Heart of Honor
by blitz-engel
Summary: To save her father from death at war, Haruno Sakura takes his place to joining the Ninja Academy. Unfortunately, only males are allowed, so she pretents to be a man. COMPLETED
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters, though I wish I did. **

**A/N: This is my first attempt at a Naruto fanfic, so please be kind. Also, it has a Mulan sort of twist to it, as if you won't figure out. (rolls eyes) Anyway, if you would, read and review, but no flammers, please.**

**Prologue**

The village of Konohakagure was asleep, what more could be said. Usually it was alive with activity but it was late in the evening. So the people were sleeping. They slept in their beds, unaware that there was a horror coming towards their country of Fire. They were too used to the peace and prosperity, too used to the way of their life. And too used to it being quiet at night. Hardly anything stirred that night.

Except one man.

The Third Hokage, the leader and ruler of the Fire Country had woken up earlier, due his regular back pains. He was an old man and did get them occasionally. Tonight they were pretty bad.  
And that's how he knew something was wrong. Whenever his back was aching rather terribly as it was now, something was wrong in the world. Some of dangerous force was approaching their country. And that's why he was up. He was waiting for the report to come in.

The thing was about Konoha was it produced the best of the best, Shinobi, great warriors to protect the village and be hired by others for certain tasks. Sometimes the missions that were given were dangerously hard, some were so easy that it only took an hour to complete. But they did what they could to help people and protect their village. They used their very own Chakra, energy to do their duty, using the greatest techniques of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and even genjutsu.

And that was who brought the report; a Shinobi.

The Shinobi, a young Chuunin, the second rank of Shinobi, found the Hokage in his office, sitting on soft pillows while working on a scroll. He was dressed fully in his official robes with his hat sitting right next to him. And when the young nin arrived, he didn't even look up.

"Young Iruka," The Hokage said softly without looking away from his scroll. "You have news for me?"

The nin, Iruka didn't look surprised that the man knew something was up. He was very aware how perceptive the old man was. Instead, he moved forward and bowed down to one knee, just to be respectful. "Master Hokage-sama, a report just came in. Unusual nin have crossed the border into the Fire Country." He lifted his head, looking rather serious. "Most of the outside guards have been killed but one. He was injured but he has reported that Lord Orochimaru is leading them."

There was a long silence as the Hokage paused from finishing his scroll. He held his calligraphy brush over the scroll, taking in the information very carefully. But after a minute, he went back to the scroll, his aged and wrinkled face full of concentration and thought.

This was a reaction that Iruka had not counted on. He blinked a few times before straightening himself. "Master Hokage?"

"Hmm?" The old man hummed as he tilted his head towards him, finally looking at the young man. "Oh, I've heard you, Iruka. I am not afraid of Orochimaru but I fear for our people in the Country. The people outside Konoha Village. They are in grave danger if it is Orochimaru that is coming this way. The village is well protected, the people are not." He stopped from his scroll again, gently setting the brush down. "Iruka, send for the ANBU and give them my order to going after Orochimaru and his men. But tell them to be careful." He told Iruka, who nodded before he turned and left.

The order was given to the greatest ranks of Shinobi and was carried out. But only a few weeks later, a message came back. It was inscribed in the back of a dead ANBU.

The Hokage was not sitting in his council chambers, listening to a number of ANBU generals arguing about the danger of the situation. He wasn't surprised to see a few panicking. The danger was highly qualified and it did intend to make everyone fear.  
The report that came in, along with the message, was of all fifty ANBU that had been dispatched to take care of Orochimaru and his army was killed in action. And now there was a terrible threat coming towards Konoha. The message had been clear. It had said that if Konoha did not surrender, all of Fire Country would perish in its own name. By the flames of fire would swallow up the people and destroy the Hidden Village of the Leaf.  
So that was what the council and the ANBU were trying to decide. To surrender to Orochimaru's demands or fight. The Shinobi were almost at each other's throats as they tried to come up with a plan. Only few remained as calm as the Hokage. They knew that if the Hokage was not panicking, then there was nothing to worry about.

"This is war! We must dispatch all Shinobi to attack Orochimaru and his army!" One ANUB Jounin exclaimed.

"All of the them?! Are you insane?!" Another shouted. "Fifty of our best ANBU were killed! And you know as well as I do that Orochimaru is a Legendary Ninja! He's UNSTOPPABLE! Why not just surrender?!"

This brought another round of protests. "You coward, Jinta! We can't surrender to him!" Another Shinobi shouted right back. "He would kill us for sure or make us his slaves! We must fight!"

The Hokage finally held up his hands for silence and the action did not go unnoticed. Immediately, everyone shut up and turned their attention onto their leader. When it was completely quiet, the Hokage sighed as he folded his hands together again. "The loss of our ANBU is a great one to us. And I will never forget what they tried to do for our village. But we will survive. Orochimaru does not know what he is dealing with. He has angered a slumbering giant and will be severely punished. We will fight for our honor, our lives and our village." Several Shinobi smiled at the speech while the others looked worried. As if he read those minds, he shook his head. "I am very aware that our numbers are down, so therefor, we will recruit more Shinobi for our army." He turned his head to the side to see one of the still calmed Shinobi.

This Shinobi was definitely a stand out among the group. He was rather handsome and young looking but was strong and proud. He had golden blonde hair on his head, with patches sticking up into the air in many directions. Spiky bangs hung over cerulean blue eyes, which were full of serious concentration, yet thoughtfulness. He was one of the top Shinobi in the room, one of the best. Everyone respected him because he was considered the strongest Shinobi.

"Minato-san," The Hokage said softly, making the Shinobi look at him so peacefully. "Send out messengers to every clan in the Fire Country. We will acquire one son of each clan, maybe more if they are the right age, to join the Ninja Academy and serve the Konoha Shinobi Army. They will have to be fit and ready, so they will need the best trainers we have. So we may need some of the old ANBU." The old man nodded as he spoke, as if he was convincing himself that this was the best plan. "I will leave it to you to put together the trainers and the perfect commander of the new recruits."

The golden haired Shinobi smiled before bowing low at the waist in respect to his Hokage. "Very well, Hokage-sama." He spoke gently. "I know the right people for the jobs. And I will personally deliver the messages to the clans, if I must." He stood up straight, looking still at the Hokage. "I will acquire young men of the age of 18 and up to train. A child under that age has no business on the battlefield."

"Good." The Hokage spoke in satisfaction. "You are still the great Shinobi my pupil has taught you to be, Uzumaki-Namikaze Minato. Stay that way." He then looked around at everyone else. "We must be ready within the year, for Orochimaru has told us he would attack the village in a year. He's playing his games with us, of course, so therefore, we will play along. We must be ready within the year. So, go prepare, my Shinobi, with honor."  
Every Shinobi bowed in respect before they gone with a quick hand sign a flash of smoke and leaves curling around their once places. The Hokage waited for a minute before he looked worried out the window, finally expressing the emotion he had been hiding from his young students. "Gods help us. For to beat Orochimaru, it will take a miracle."


	2. Chapter 1

**One:**

The morning sun slowly rose higher into the ocean blue sky, with only silver white clouds slowly curling and rolling across the cerulean color. The morning larks were already singing their songs of happiness and love while creatures of nature were going about their normal routine.

It was the beginning of a beautiful and bright day.

The Haruno Clan was a small family but well known by the head of the Clan, Haruno Daisuka; Suka for short. Suka had once been Shinobi for the Fire Country and once was a close friend of the Third Hokage. He had served as a bodyguard once and had saved the young son of the Hokage from bandits long ago. But now he was retired after a terrible leg wound that left him with a limp. Now he lived with his family in the countryside of Fire, only a few miles from Konoha Village. He was married to a beautiful maiden and had bore no sons, but one daughter. A daughter he loved more than life itself.

Haruno Sakura was now 18 years old and of the age to become a bride. She wasn't thrilled about it, but she kept it to herself. It was a custom of the Country's to not complain about what they are given, especially if they were women. Women did not have very many rights these days, and mostly all didn't care about complaining. Except Sakura, but she only complained to her father, who only laughed.  
She, herself, was a good-looking girl, beautiful in the eyes of many men; mostly the hands that worked on the Clan's home grounds. She had beautiful, long cherry blossom pink hair, spilling down in silky locks around her waist and the greenest eyes, the colors of leaves. Her face was still very young though, and she was still developing. But as of now, she was still good looking.

As of now, Sakura was reading a book, studying for her big test that she would be taking that day. She was trying to memorize all of the skills of being a housewife, which she found very dull. She was going to meet a matchmaker today, along with several other girls her age, to see if she was bride material. And if she was, the matchmaker would find a match for her; would find a husband for her.

"Hmm. This is easy. I can do all of this." Sakura said softly as she looked through the books. She then looked out her window, noting how high the sun as getting now. She knew she needed to start getting ready. This was her big day, though she wasn't too thrilled. She wasn't sure if she wanted to do this but her parents did. So that's why she was doing it. Without a word, Sakura climbed out of her bed and began pulling out her clothes she was going to wear to the village. She made sure to wear something nice, even though she was going to change out of it once she got to the village. She didn't pull her hair up, but did put her red headband in to keep her bangs from falling in her eyes.

As soon as she was dressed, she went to the kitchen and began to prepare a pot of tea, but already found the pot over the electric stove. Sakura smiled, shaking her head. She knew that her mother had already started the tea and knew that if she hadn't done it, her daughter would have made herself late by trying to prepare the pot of tea for Suka. So with her pretty smile, Sakura grabbed the pot and a teacup and went out into the gardens to try and locate her father.

It was the usual place he spent his hours, the cherry orchard. It was his and Sakura's favorite spot on their land. And that's where she found him. Daisuka was kneeling in the green grass, meditating under their favorite cherry tree, which was the biggest in the orchard. The cherry blossoms were just barely started to bloom in the cherry trees. They were pink as Sakura's hair and that was probably why Suka was there.

"Father," Sakura said gently as she went over to him. "It's time for your morning tea."

Suka's lips curved upward into a gentle smile before he opened his eyes and looked up at her. He watched her as she bent down next to him and poured him the tea. "Sakura, you should be on your way to the village. It is a big day for you." He told her, smiling still. Sakura just shook her heads as she held out the cup for him take. "I know. But I wanted to make sure you got your tea. The medic nin said you're to drink two cups of tea, twice a day. One in the morning and one at night." She told him.  
"Hmm." Suka hummed with pleasantly. "My little Cherry, you mustn't worry about me right now. Hurry and get to town. It's up to you to uphold our family tree and our honor." He saw her look away with a sigh. He knew she wasn't pleased to hear that but she wanted to please him. He sighed as he reached over and took her hand. "Sakura, you are not pleased with this arrangement." He said it more a question.

Sakura looked up at him, faintly smiling. "Not really. I really hoped that I didn't have to meet a matchmaker. Arranged marriages aren't really my idea of finding love." She told him.

Suka slowly shook his head as he linked his fingers with hers. "Sakura, as much as I want you to find love of your own, it is tradition to go through the matchmaking process. Our clan is small and it will fade if we don't join together with a bigger clan. And only the matchmaker can match a son and daughter from two different clans." He gently pushed his daughter's bangs out of her green eyes. "When matched up with a heir, Cherry, you may find love. Just be patient." He told her.

Sakura sighed but nodded. "All right. I'll try, father." She told him.

"You should go now." Daisuka said softly pushing her away. "The matchmaker is not a patient woman. And you must look like a bride for her." He said, watching Sakura stand up. He smiled as he looked her over. "You will be the most beautiful."

Sakura smiled at him as she backed away from him. "Thanks, dad. Bye!" And she turned and ran away from him.

* * *

Not long, Sakura arrived in the Konoha Village, hurrying over to a large building, which was alive with activity. There were already girls there waiting, ready to see the matchmaker. Their mothers close by, helping them keeping beautiful. Sakura's own mother, Haruno Rukia, was waiting impatiently for her, along with some of their female hands. They all looked relieved when she came hurrying towards them. Rukia sighed in relief. "Oh, it's about time." She then frowned seeing leaves in her daughter's hair. "And you went through the trees, didn't you?"

Sakura wrinkled her nose at her mother. "Mom, I was making sure dad got his tea. And I took a short cut on getting here." She complained. Rukia just shook her head as she grabbed her daughter's arm and dragged her inside to get ready.

Once inside, Sakura was pushed into a bath and forced to wash herself and her hair. She was given specialized shampoos for her hair and soap to make herself very clean and to smell good. After that, she dried herself and was pushed into another room where a Kimono was shoved into her arms and she received an order to put it on by one of the dressers. Sakura pulled a face but did what she was told. She didn't get it all the way on when a few of the dressers decided that she needed help and began roughly pulling it together. Once she was dressed, she was shoved into a chair where maids beginning to roughly brush her hair. Much to her discomfort, her hair was yanked and pulled until she had tears in her eyes. She tried to complain but a woman told her to shut up and let them do their work. So she listened.

Almost an hour later, she was done. The maids had done up her hair, makeup and helped her dress completely. When she was shoved into a room full of other young women, fully dressed. Now, Sakura was dressed in a beautiful red and pink kimono with cherry blossoms all over a tree. A red comb with an orchid was stuck in her hair to keep the bun from falling out. She truly did look like a bride.

Sakura couldn't help but look around at the many girls in the room. She had never seen so many beautiful kimonos in her life. Some were of many colors, others were the same. And some were definitely more richly like than her own. She was almost the only one wearing a pink kimono though.

"Oh, look. It's Forehead." A beautiful blonde young woman said as soon as she spotted Sakura. She walked over, flaunting her richly blonde hair, which was only half down. She was dressed in a light blue kimono with water designs in it.

Sakura, however, frowned when she saw her but then shook her head, forcing a smile. "Hey, Ino-pig." She said coolly. "I see you're here wasting your time."

Ino glared at her, while a few other young women shook their heads. "Me? Wasting my time? Ha! Look who's talking, billboard! No man would ever want your big forehead! They'll probably just use it for memos to stick on!" She snapped. Both girls glared at one another, while their mothers tried to shush them.  
"Hey, Sakura, Ino. It's good to see that you two haven't changed too much." A pretty black haired girl said with two buns on both sides of her head. She was wearing a silver and red kimono with an attractive autumn design on it.  
Sakura folded her arms as she turned away from Ino but then shrugged to her. "Hello, Tenten." She paused to look a timid looking girl with violate colored hair next to the first. "Hinata. So you're here too, huh."

Both girls nodded, though the timid one, Hinata looked extremely worried, twiddling her fingers and touching her bottom lip as she looked nervously around. "Ye-yes. I…I'm a little ex-excited that we're getting ma-matched up today. But nervous." She said in a quiet voice.  
Sakura didn't reply while Ino just smirked softly. "You're always nervous, Hinata. But I'm excited too! I don't really see a point of me seeing a matchmaker. Because I know that I'm going to be paired up with a Uchiha! I just hope it's going to be that really hot one, Uchiha Sasuke! We'd make a perfect pair!" She said happily.  
Sakura glared even harder at Ino, her face starting to turn red with rage. In truth, she had her eyes on that one as well. Everyone knew that the Uchiha clan was one of the most powerful clans in the Fire Country. There were many sons in the Uchiha clan, though it was said that one of the oldest sons was gone, banished for being a fool. But there was only one left that needed to be matched up and that was the youngest, Sasuke. Sakura had hoped that she could match up with Sasuke. He was about her age, as well. "As if, Ino-pig! I'll be the one who gets Sasuke!" She said loudly. Again they glared at one another, fire dancing in their eyes as they glared murderously at each other.

But before a fight could break out, the door to the matchmaker's private chambers slammed open and a very beautiful woman with long blond hair and vicious blue eyes entered. She was garbed in a gray kimono, but was made of fine fabric. Right behind her, was a lovely black haired woman wearing a gentle brown kimono, looking just as pretty. She was carrying a clipboard in her arms.  
"All right!" The blonde woman said in a loud, clear voice. "Let's get started. When I call your name, come inside immediately. No speaking unless I say something to you first!" No one replied because they were staring wide eyed at her. She was clearly the kind you did not want to mess around with. "Good! Now, first one up." The matchmaker pointed to her assistant, who nodded as she looked at the clipboard. She was quiet for a moment as she looked at the names before tapping the paper with one finger.

"First one is, Hyuuga Hinata."

The timid young woman flinched as if someone had snapped a whip at her before she shivered and moved forward, her face red with a blush and she looked like she was going to cry in fear. Sakura gave her a look of encouragement who still looked afraid as she disappeared inside the chambers. The door slammed shut as the matchmaker and her assistant followed her.

It was a long time before the door open again and she came back out, her face was pale while her eyes wide with shock and fear. She looked extremely flustered as she hurried back to the girls she had been with, muttering under her breath, sounding way too confused and afraid. Once she joined the girls, they were trying to get Hinata to tell them what happened and who she had been paired up with, but the poor girl stumbled over her words that they didn't understand what she said. The next one was a girl Sakura didn't even know. It was like that for a while.

Sakura just stood in silence, playing with her fingers as she tried to think of what was going to happen. She really hoped that she would be matched up with Uchiha Sasuke. But what if she wasn't? Who else would she get? What other clans were there anyway? She didn't know very many. She never really paid attention them very much.  
There were only a few clans she knew of. The Uchiha clan of course, was one of them. No one didn't know about that family. Then there was Hinata's clan, the Hyuuga Clan. There was another clan called the Lee-Maito, which was actually built up by two clans. She didn't know too much about that one though. Then there was the Namikaze Clan, which was said to be a very highly ranked clan. She didn't know much about them either. Only that they were not easy to get paired up with. But what other clans were there that was available for matching?

"Haruno Sakura."

Sakura's attention immediately snapped back to reality as soon as she heard her name. She quickly jumped to her feet and rose a hand into the air. "Here!" She called mindlessly. She was already moving forward towards the matchmaker, who was now glaring at her. Hesitantly, the pink haired girl slowed her pace, realizing that she did something wrong. She caught Ino sniggering and that just angered her even more. But she knew if she said anything, she would get into more trouble.

So she went through the door way without another word, followed by the matchmaker and her assistant, who slammed the door shut, making her jump.

"All right." The matchmaker began as she moved across the room to where Sakura had placed herself. "Shizune, make sure you get everything like I told you." She said sternly.  
The assistant nodded once before bowing her head in great respect for the matchmaker. "Yes, Lady Tsunade-sama." She turned to Sakura, who was looking between both of them in curiosity. "State your name, your clan and your age, please." She said pleasantly.

Sakura nodded as she folded her hands together, feeling only a little nervous. She didn't like the matchmaker too much, for the woman sounded very onry and didn't seem like the kind that she might get along with. "My name is Haruno Sakura, daughter of Haruno Daisuka and Rukia. I am 18 years old, ma-am." She said as politely as she could.

The assistant nodded as she jotted it down on the clipboard while the matchmaker, Tsunade narrowed her eyes as she looked her over. Her piercing blue eyes seemed to be searching for something out of place but then she found it. She lifted her head up higher as she moved closer. "Stand up tall." She ordered. Sakura quickly did what she was told and stood up as straight as she could. Tsunade then began to circle her, still looking her over. Her eyes paused on the pink haired girl's forehead, making her shift uncomfortably. "Hmm. Such a large forehead.. Not too common." She smirked when she saw Sakura grimace. "But you're pretty nonetheless." She remarked and that seemed to help a little. "Do you like children?"

Sakura looked a little surprised but then nodded as she looked directly at the matchmaker. "Yes, I suppose I do. They can be a little troublesome, though. I was when I was a child. At least that's what my father told me. But he still loved me the same. Children are fun to play with." She said smiling a little.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes in thought, though it looked like she was a little annoyed with such a long answer. "How many children are you going to have?"

Sakura felt a little flustered by the question, especially on how personal they were but she had an answer anyway. "I suppose it would depend on the situation, ma-am." She said simply. She saw both of the women in the room with her frown in confusion, one actually raising her eyebrow. She knew that she had better hurry and give a clearer answer than she had just given her. "Oh, well, it depends on the first child. If the child was to be a perfect angel, then yes. I would like more than one child. But if they were a hellraiser, I'll probably debate on it."

"Hmm." The matchmaker hummed, but Sakura could tell that she was amused by the answer. Even the assistant thought it was funny. She was smiling behind the clipboard and shaking her head. "Shizune, what is the answer that all of the other young women having been giving us?" The matchmaker asked, waving a hand towards her.

"Oh, the correct answer is that it depended on how many the husband would want." Shizune told Sakura.

Sakura winced but relaxed again when Tsunade just waved her hand as if waving away her embarrassment. "The answer will do, though." She said simply before going back to looking at Sakura, her eyes pausing down at her thighs. That really made the pink haired girl uneasy. "You are a virgin, are you not?"

"Wha-what?!" Sakura asked flabbergasted, her face turning hot red. "I'm a wha-what?"

Tsunade smirked, rolling her eyes. "That answers my question." She paused moving towards the table now. "Sit down and pour us some tea." She ordered. Sakura nodded quickly and did so. She paused over the two cups before looking at Shizune with such curiousity. "Would you like some tea too?"  
The question seemed to surprise Shizune, for she stepped back, eyes lit up. She even held out the clipboard as if using it as a shield. Her eyes flickering over to see if Tsunade was ready to explode but to her surprise, the blonde woman rose her eyebrow at her assistant. "Well, Shizune? Answer her. Do you want a cup?" She asked, in a strict tone. The assistant quickly shook her head, afraid that if she did say yes, she might get yelled at. "N-no….thank you."

Sakura nodded, glancing questionably at Tsunade but pushed the cup towards her anyway. The Matchmaker just turned her eyes back onto her as she took the tea and sipped it. "Can you cook? Sew? Mend clothing? Any type of home economics?" She asked, still watching her carefully.

Sakura slowly nodded as she sipped her own tea before setting it down. "Yes, ma-am. I've learned from my mother. Once, we made this beautiful kimono for last year's spring festival and it was just so….."

"Yes or no would do." Tsunade said impatiently cutting her off. "I can see you like to talk. In my opinion, that's fine. But in a man's opinion, you should be silent. A woman is to be seen, not heard. When you speak, do it only when you are asked a question. Never bore your husband about how your day went. A woman who speaks too much is weak." She told her strictly.

Sakura slowly nodded but nodded. "I'm sorry."

Again Tsunade shook her head before tilting her head. "If given a husband, what qualities shall he have?"

Sakura looked very thoughtful at the question. She really hadn't thought too much about that. She probably should have. She wasn't sure how to answer. But then she nodded, looking directly at Tsunade. "The man I am to marry shall probably be a hard worker, strict but kind about certain things. Um, I don't mind if he is a little laid back but knows how to keep it a limit." She then shook her head, looking a little confused. "I don't know. It's not easy trying to think of a man's qualities. I think the most I want in a relationship is love. I just want love. I really don't like the idea of an arranged marriage. Especially with a total stranger." She told the woman.

Now Tsunade was giving her a dull look as she tapped her nails on the table. "Love?" She asked skeptically. "Do you honestly think that love will bring your family true honor?"

Sakura was taken aback by that reaction. But she nodded. She believed in love the most. It was the passion her parents hand that encouraged her. "I do. Love is…."

"Love is a waste of time! It's nothing but trouble! It will not bring honor to your family, Haruno Sakura. It brings only pain and suffering." Tsunade said angrily. Sakura could immediately tell that something had happened this woman, something bad. She wondered exactly why the woman would see love as a troubling matter. "No man cares about love. Love has nothing to do with matchmaking. Change your request for love or do not find honor." The matchmaker said.

Sakura still looked flabbergasted but shook her head slowly. She did not believe that for a fact. Love was not pain or dishonorable. It was something she wanted the most. The perfect love. The kind that her parents shared with one another. "I…..I can't change it, Lady Tsunade-sama. I want the love." She saw Shizune wince and knew that had been a bad thing to say.

The matchmaker's lip curled back a little before she stood up, slowly. "Miss Haruno," She said pointing towards the door. "There is no match for foolish girls who spend their time dreaming about love. If you truly want love, I would suggest you take a Hatake as a husband! They are fools who cherish love as much as you do. But I would not advise it. They are most dishonorable, an embarrassment in society! Now, why don't you leave, you foolish girl!" She snapped.

Sakura flinched but quickly stood up and hurried towards the door, tears blinding her vision as she rushed out of the room. She saw a few surprised people staring after her as she pushed the door open, but she did not pay any attention to them at all. She just hurried out of the building and started on her way home, not waiting for her mother.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters, though I wish I did.**

**A/N: Well, I'm happy to say that I got enough reviews for the first chapter. I really appreciate it. ****Anyway, on with the story! Read and review please!

* * *

****  
Two:**

Upon the return home, Sakura was still in tears as she entered the gates of her home. She was so embarrassed. She could believe that woman was so mean like that. Not to mention, that she had dishonored her clan just because she wanted love. Was she really that foolish to desire love? Did no man care for love but a perfect wife to do whatever he told her to do? And there was another question that she wanted to be answered.  
"Who in the world are the Hatake Clan?" She muttered as she made her way past the gates, wiping her eyes.  
She was so embarrassed. She had seen Ino watching her as she hurried past the blonde, watching her cry. She had seen the raise of her eyebrow, yet there was just a little confusion and worry on her face, as she glanced uneasily towards the door of the matchmaker's chambers. Sakura knew sooner or later that the entire village, maybe even the Country of Fire would hear about her disgrace. News travelled rather fast around those parts.

"Sakura, my little cherry."

Sakura groaned when she heard her father call to her softly. She didn't want to face him just yet. She didn't want to let him know that she had just dishonored his clan. So she picked up her pace and hurried towards the orchards, still not looking at Suka.

Luckily, he did not pursue her.

She hurried towards the gates of her garden, pausing to look over her shoulder to see what her father might have looked like, and he was speaking to her mother. They both looked a little upset, so she knew that her mother had just to him what had happened with the matchmaker. They knew that she, Sakura, had cost them a lot of respect and honor.

Sadly, she went into the garden to be alone. She went to her favorite cherry tree and sat under it, crying. She couldn't believe herself. She hated the fact that she might have been a weakling, a foolish dreamer who desired love out of a marriage. The words of the matchmaker had hit her heart pretty hard. She knew that her parents loved each other, knew that they were matched up for a reason. She remembered how her mother had said she had been just like her, not wanting to get married to some stranger, but then again, she and Daisuka had not been strangers.  
She was there for an hour, crying under her tree when she saw her father enter the gardens. She winced before burying her head into her arms, not wanting him to look at her face. She was too embarrassed and ashamed.

Suka spotted her under the tree and faintly smiled as he walked over to her and bent down next to her, sitting by her. He looked at her for a long time before looking up at the tree's lovely blossoms. "My, what beautiful blossoms we have this year." He said thoughtfully. He saw Sakura lift her head a little, still not looking up at him. "They grow beautifully every time you shed your love and nurture them, my little cherry."

Now, Sakura looked up at him, a merely glance. She was trying to figure out where he was going with this. Her father was not very easy to read or figure out, in her opinion.

"Love," Suka started, seeing her flinch with a pained look. "Is a marvelous thing, Sakura. It is what makes a marriage work. Many may not see it the way you do, but I'm glad you cherish it." He reached down at gently pulled one of her arms loose so he could hold her hand. With his other hand, he reached up and gently pulled her beautiful pink hair out of his bun so that it would spill down her back. "You are a beautiful bride, Cherry."

Sakura finally smiled as she shook her hair out of her eyes before she leaned against her father, tightening her hold on his. "I'm so sorry, father, for dishonoring you. I just wanted to be matched up who saw things the way I do. I wanted to find love before marriage." She told him.  
"I know." Suka told her smiling, his arm wrapping around her, giving her a comforting squeeze. "And you did not dishonor me, cherry. You have actually honored me more than anyone realizes. You desire the most powerful element and that's the most honorable way a daughter can give to her old man."  
Sakura just smiled before she remembered the name that the matchmaker had given her. She still wanted to know who that was. It was a clan she was not familiar with. But maybe, more than likely, Suka did know who they were. "Father, who are the Hatake clan?" She saw the surprised look that Suka gave her at the question. "It was a name that the matchmaker told me about. She said that if I wanted love, I probably would want a…."

Before she could finish, they heard the sounds of a bell on the outside the residence. Both looked up to see one of their hands hurry towards them, looking flustered. Suka and Sakura stood up, looking at him with concern, both wondering what was wrong. But the hand just pointed towards the gates. "Master Suka-san, there are visitors here to see you! They want to see you and your family right now." He looked even more flustered. "They're Shinobi."

Sakura's eyes snapped wide open with surprise. She had heard of the Shinobi but never seen them before. She knew that if they were coming around, there was definitely trouble or urgent news to be told. She looked up at her father with worry but there was a gentle look on his face as he started towards the gates. She quickly followed after him, wanting to see them for herself.

Outside, in the courtyard there were at least six Shinobi, almost all of them dressed in black garb. Their forehead protectors with the symbol of the leaf were shining in the sunlight. Each Shinobi looked very proud as they stood tall and around the only Shinobi who wasn't wearing black. This one stood out in the ground the most. He was a tall and strong looking man, a little younger than her own father. His wild hair was the color of gold and his eyes were cerulean blue. He was wearing deep blue clothing under a white sleeveless jacket that fell down around his ankles. Fire embroidery surrounded the hem, making its way up but not entirely. He was a very handsome man for his age, kind and yet firm.

Sakura did not know him at all but Suka sure seemed to.

Daisuka looked surprised to see him at first but them smiled brightly as he moved forward with his limp and bowed delicately to the Shinobi. "Ah, Namikaze Minato. What a grand surprise to see the honored son of my old friend, and the greatest Shinobi in history. What brings you here for a grand visit?"

The man, Minato just smiled at the flattery as he bowed back to Suka before standing up straight. He pulled out a scroll from his belt and held it. "Hmm. You flatter me, my father's old friend. But it is you who was to be the greatest, as far as I'm concerned, Honorable Haruno Daisuka." He now frowned as he lifted the scroll a little towards Suka. "But I'm not here for a visit. This is not a social call. I'm afraid that I have terrible news to spread all over the Fire Country. The tyrant and enemy of our enemy, Orochimaru has invaded our country and war is unavoidable. He has brought scores of enemy nin to attack our humble home." He shook his head when he saw the alarmed looks on the Haruno clan's faces. "I'm afraid that every son of every clan must report to the Konoha Ninja Training camp for duty. There, they will be trained for battle. They will be trained by the finest Shinobi we have." He held out the scroll to Suka. "Have your son report to the camp near the Forest of Death, where he will be trained."

A deep frown curled on Suka's face but he reached for the scroll anyway. He didn't even pay attention to the look on his daughter's face. "No son, Minato-san. I, myself, will report to the training camp." He told the blonde, who looked a little surprised at what was said but then he nodded as he pushed the scroll closer to Suka.

"NO!" Sakura gasped as she hurried forward. She ignored some of the looks she got from some of the Shinobi and the surprised look on Minato's face. She saw how a few were scowling at her for stepping out of her place and saying anything, while the blonde looked thoughtfully at her. "Father! You mustn't go!" She begged before looking at Minato, shaking her head. "Please, sir. My father has already served in the war for the honored village of leaf. He's too old to fight. There are other young men that can fight this war. But not my father….."

One of the Shinobi in black stepped forward, glaring at her in rage. It was obvious he was highly annoyed with her and looked like he was getting ready to strike her. "Silence! You speak out of place, girl!" He then went quiet when Minato shot him a look and held up a hand to him, telling him to step back into his own place. But then he turned his eyes onto Sakura, looking stern but kind at the same time.  
"You would do well to keep silent, young lady. It is dishonorable to your clan. So use your head." He then looked at Suka. "Better teach her to stay in her place, Master Haruno-sama. Not everyone is always kind towards women as I am." He warned him.

Suka looked grave but nodded in agreement. His eyes flickered over to Sakura, looking rather serious. "Sakura, you dishonor me. Keep silent and speak no more."

Sakura stepped back, looking surprised and hurt as if she had just been punched in the stomach. But she knew that she had embarrassed her father and felt guilty for it. So she lowered her head and stepped back with a sigh. "Forgive me, father."

Daisuka just shook his head as he looked back at Minato and took the scroll firmly in his hand. "I will report to the Ninja Camp as ordered, Master Namikaze Minato-san." He bowed before turning and limped back to the house. He knew that people were watching him but he showed no weakness, or at least tried to.  
Sakura watched her father from the corner of her eye before she turned away to go back to the gardens. She already saw the Shinobi taking their leave already. Her mother was following her father into the house to speak to him about the matter.  
With a sigh, Sakura made her way towards the garden, but before she could get too far, she felt someone grab her arm. She was startled for a moment but realized that the hand on her arm was not being threatening, but kind. So she knew it wasn't one of the Shinobi trying to punish her for speaking out of term. But before she could turn to see who it was, a hand pressed against her back to keep her from doing so.

"Just wise advice, young lady," She heard the voice of the golden haired Shinobi, Minato say gently in her ear. "But do not do anything foolish. At least something too stupid. If you wish to do something, use your heart to decide but your brain to do it wisely." And then his hand was gone.

Sakura turned around to look at him but to her surprise, he was gone. There was only smoke and leaves curling around her, showing that he had dematerialized away from her. She stood there for a long moment, letting his words settle in her mind. She wasn't sure what he had meant but she would think about it later. So she went inside, still thinking about Minato's words.

* * *

That night, the three members of the clan were sitting at the table for dinner, all silent as ever. Usually they would be talking to one another, laughing about their day. But since the visit of the Shinobi, no one had spoken to one another. Sakura kept glancing at her parents, seeing how tense everyone was. Her mother looked upset, while her father sat up tall and serious like. 

But finally, the silence got to her. It had to stop.

"Father, you are not going to war. You're too old to do so. There are plenty of young men to fight for the Fire Country. But you can't…." Sakura was saying as she placed her tea up down. Suka raised his serious eyes and looked her right in the eye. "And who do you think is head of this family? If you didn't know better, I am the **man** of the house and you are my daughter." He said sternly. Sakura just frowned at him. She never argued with her father like this but she was too stubborn to let it go. "Father, you will die fighting…."

"I would die fighting for my family, Sakura." Suka said, his voice starting to raise. "My family and the Hidden Village of Leaf's honor. That's all that matters to me." He told her.

Sakura shook her head as she stood up sharply. She was not going to let him win this argument and let him throw away his life when he could not fight. "Daddy, I don't want you to go! This war will kill you! You have a limp from the last war and it has slowed you……!" She was saying.

Suka slammed his fists on the table and forced himself to stand up, his eyes glaring fiercely into his daughter's. His actions spilt the tea all over the table. "I know my place, Sakura! So know yours! You are a woman! I am a man! Men serve in wars, protecting what is rightfully theirs! Women do what they are told to do! So be silent or so help me, I will show you what happens when a woman questions a man!" He shouted at her. Sakura stepped back with shock and fear. Never in her life had her father threatened her before. Never had he rose his voice to her, yelled at her, or even looked at her like that. She couldn't help but just stare at him with a trembling lip before she turned and fled the room, tears pouring from her eyes. She was hurt. Her father was going to die and she couldn't do anything about it.

* * *

It was very late in the evening when she heard him in his small dojo. It had been a long time since he last went in there. Sakura was trying to go to sleep in her room but couldn't from the troubled feeling she felt deep within her heart. She had nearly cried herself to sleep. But now, hearing him enter the dojo, she was curious.  
So, Sakura got up from her bed and crept down the hall to the room. She carefully peered around the sliding door and found her father trying to practice ninjutsu. He was punching at the air, trying to have a battle with invisible enemies. He looked very strained though. He hadn't done it for such a long time now. He had taught Sakura a little ninjutsu and she was pratically a natural but still, he hadn't done any jutsu for a long time. Suka tried to make a few kicks into the air but then he flinched from pain and cried out as he fell to the ground. He was very unaware that Sakura flinched herself and was watching him struggle to get back up. With a sigh, he leaned against the wall, half way standing up and half way bent over. He knew he was in no shape for any war. 

And Sakura knew that too. She watched in pain as her father tried again only to fall to the ground again, breathing hard from pain in his limp leg. She couldn't stand this anymore. She knew that if he went to war, he would not last very long. She knew that he would die and probably be dishonored, and if that happened, if he did survive, the heartache would kill him if the war didn't. The only hope of saving him and his honor was to have his son go in his place. But the problem was, Sakura was the only child.

There was no son of Haruno.

Sakura's eyes flashed sternly as she watched her father even longer, with pain etched on her face. She wiped whatever tears there were on her face before shaking her head. "If there is no Haruno son, then I will have to become him." She thought before she rushed back to her own room. "I will become a man."

* * *

**Anyway, a quick shout out.**

**LufflyEmi: Thank you! I really appreciate that compliment. **

**Seriv: Yes, it is Sakura centered, because I totally love her. She's so interesting. But there is actually a pairing. I just hadn't mentioned it yet. You'll probably catch on sooner or later though. **

**Hououza: Thank you. I'm really trying. Like I said in my last chapter, this is the first Naruto fanfic that I'm doing, so I'm still not too used to writing the characters. The training at the camp will be very interesting either way. You'll just have to wait and see.**

**Nagneto: Hehehe. I love the story of Mulan! And in a way, this story follows that storyline. Anyway, thanks!**

**Dovesary: Thank you, Dove. I'll keep that in mind. **

**Ink'dFairyWings: Wow, interesting name. hehe. Thanks, though. I'm really trying to capture Tsunade's personality, though it's not entirely easy because I've only read the Manga, and haven't seen any of the TV shows or movies, -- which really bites but I'll keep trying. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.**

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews, everyone. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Now in this chapter, Sakura becomes a man and joins the Ninja Training Camp. But she does not get a warm welcoming. As well you will learn who will be in charge of the training. **

**Read and review please.

* * *

****Three:**

After her parents had gone to sleep, Sakura went to work immediately. She had waited till it was nearly midnight, just to make sure that her father was truly asleep before she sneaked into his room and stole the summoning scroll. She looked at him in longing, watching him sleep. She didn't want to do this, but he was giving her no choice.

Then she went into the armor and pulled out his old Shinobi uniform. She looked them over, trying to judge them if they were about her size. She knew they might be a little baggy on her but she didn't care. She needed them to be. She rolled them up into a bundle before going for some of her father's weapons. She took out his kunai holster with a few pockets full of shruikens and throwing stars, as well as took his prized Kunai.  
Once she had them, she hurried back to her room and stuffed them into a traveling bag before going to the kitchens and stole food from the cupboards. She knew she would need a good amount of food if she was going to be traveling. She decided she would make herself into a boy once she left the residence. Doing it now would probably cause a little trouble if she got caught being up.

Before leaving her room, she had paused in front of her mirror, looking at herself. There was one other problem she was facing. She did have a small chest, but it was clear that she was female. She shook her head. "Men do not have boobs." She muttered bitterly to herself. Before this happened, she had been disappointed that she had a small chest while other girls had large ones, but now, she was grateful that she didn't have big breasts. Still, it was a problem. So she went to her mother's herbal cabinet where she kept bindings. Sakura stole a few rolls, promising herself that she would take care of her problem later.

Finally, she had everything she needed together. They were all stuffed into her bag and she was now making her way outside of the Haruno clan's gates. She couldn't help but turn back and stare longingly at her home. She was half tempted of just putting this behind her and go get back in bed. But the image of her father on the ground, in pain stopped her. She would miss her family but she had to do this. This was for her father. For his life and his honor.

"Goodbye, father. I won't let you down." Sakura whispered before she was hurrying away out of the gates and into the darkness of the night.

The pink haired girl traveled for almost three hours till she was well away from the Haruno residence and any home for that matter. Once she was safely hidden in the forest, she stopped to make camp in a clearing. It was still in the springtime, so it was still just a little cool. She was really tempted to try and make a fire. But if she did that, it might bring strangers to her camp and she did not want that right now.

So, she just laid in the soft grass under a willow tree with Suka's kunai in her hands, staring down at it. There was another problem she had to face and that was her gorgeous, long pink hair.  
"Though boys don't have pink hair, they certainly don't have long, pink hair." She muttered to herself before she gently ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry, my friend. But it has to be done." She then grabbed a fist full and began to saw at her wonderful hair. She couldn't help but sob as she cut her hair short. She didn't have a mirror to help her, so she wasn't sure if she was getting it even.

Once she was done cutting her hair, Sakura used her hands to try to figure out what it now looked like. She had cut it boyish style, though it was still a little long, only to below her ears. It would have to do though. She was feeling a little too tired to cutting it again. With a sigh, she looked at the rest of her hair, shaking her head in disgust. "I'm sorry, my friend." She said softly before she began pulling off her dress and changing into her father's old clothes.

However, she stopped when before pulling on her shirt, to wrap the bindings tightly around her chest. It was not easy to flatten her chest. It took a long time to get it done by herself but she managed after an hour an a half of wrapping the bindings around her. Soon enough, her chest wasn't sticking out anymore. And then she continued to dress herself as a man. She tucked in her shirt, leaving it a little baggy and pulled on her father's Shinobi jacket.

Finally she was done and it was time for her to get some sleep. She knew she would need it. So she laid down in the grass, using her old clothes as a blanket and a pillow. It took a while to getting to sleep but finally, she fell asleep.

* * *

It was nearly noon when she woke up again. She was almost too nervous as she got up and started her to get ready for her travels. She had to discard her dress in a river she was passing by before going on. Her hand was running through her hair, measuring the length of it. But as she traveled, she came to a forest she knew that was the Forest of Death. She stopped there for brunch and stared into a small stream.  
Sakura really did look like a boy now. Her hair was cut so short and was uneven but she knew quite a few guys that had uneven hair. She heard it was actually a little common to have uneven and wild hair. The only problem was, she was still a little too girlish looking. Her face was soft and fair looking, though she wasn't sure if that was going to be a problem or not. But to make sure, she took some dirt and rubbed it on her face. It helped just a little. She hardly recognized herself.

"Hmm. Maybe this will work after all." And then she pulled a face at the sound of her voice. Her voice was going to be a big problem. It was too soft and high pitched like a girl's. So she tried to deepen her voice, roughing it up a little. And she practiced with it as she walked.

An hour later, she found the Ninja Camp.

The Konoha Ninja Training camp was on the far south side of the village, at least five or ten miles away. It was set up at the edge of the Death Forest, with more than a hundred tents set up. There was a mesh tent where quite a few tables were. And there were men sitting on them, eating steaming plates of food. There were more wandering the camp or talking with others. It surprised Sakura to see so many men that have shown up to join the army. Quite a few of them were about her age, and a few were older, already fathers, she could tell.

And there were even more Shinobi all around the camp, seeming to be observing the new recruits.

"Okay." Sakura sighed, nervously. "Time to put on a show." And then she began making her way closer to the camp, pausing just outside the bushes to watch the men. She needed to see how the men acted, so she could copy them. And to be perfectly honest, she was starting to regret it.  
Some of the men were the most disgusting men she had ever seen. Several were spitting on the ground, a few was picking their nose and flicking it down and more than fifty was stuffing their faces with food, eating with the worst table manners she had ever seen. It was too gross to watch. A group of men were just standing around and watching the others like Sakura was doing. But a few were acting really tough and trying to pick fights.

"Hey! Move it, shrimp!"

Sakura jumped when she heard shouting, thinking it was directed to her since it was so close but then she realized that a huge man was talking to a smaller one.

"You talking to me, fatboy?!" The other yelled back. And soon they began fighting. Some men grinned and stood by to watch as the men began pounding the living daylights out of each other.

Again, Sakura felt her stomach curl and she nearly felt sick. She knew this was going to be a whole lot harder than she thought. But she still had to try. So taking a deep breath, she moved into camp.  
And to her dismay, she was noticed immediately.  
She saw several men stop what they were doing and looked at her. Sakura's face drained of color as she stared back. She was immediately wishing that the ground would open up and swallow her. More than several men were just staring at her, almost in shock. She wondered why though. Could they tell that she was not a boy? Could they see right through her? She hoped not. She knew that she could be killed for impersonating a boy. She knew the laws and heard what would happen if they were broken.

"Wh-what are you staring at?" She demanded, trying to sound like a tough boy.

Immediately, men burst into laughter, surprising her. Some were roaring so hard that they fell to their knees and began pounding the ground with their fists. Sakura sweatdropped but then stood still, her hand on her waist. "All right. I'm missing the joke, obviously. But what is so funny?"

A young man close by moved forward in a very slow manner, a smirk curled on his face as he looked her over. His black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and he actually had earrings in his ears. He looked at her rather lazily, almost in a very bored way. "You are." He said slowly. "You are the joke, dude." He reached up and grabbed a few strands of Sakura's hair before giving them a sharp tug, making her yelp in pain. "Who in the hell has pink hair?"

Sakura winced as she rubbed her head before glaring at the boy. "Ow." She then slapped his hand away as he tried to do it again. "What was that for, you jerk?!" This only made the men laugh even harder, as if she had said one of the funniest jokes on the planet. "Stop laughing! So what if I have pink hair?!"

The young man standing before her just sneered as he placed his hand on his was, shifting his weight. "Oh, how troublesome." He said rolling his eyes. "Pink hair is for girls. Not men." He sneered. Sakura felt her body grow very cold with shock, her breath nearly stopping there. She knew they must have known that she was a girl. But how? It must have been her pink hair. She knew she should have done something about its color. "I….I am not a girl! I am a man!" She said trying not to sound nervous. The boy just sneered again before he shook his head. "No, you're not." He remarked. "You are a girly boy. You're probably one of those guys who was so pampered by their mommy and were raised to be a wimp while your daddy refused to hang out with you and chose to go pork his secretary, or someone's wife or daughter, right?"

Sakura wasn't exactly sure what had happened that very second. All she knew was she felt her temper just flare up after hearing those insults. Especially the one about her father. No one ever insulted her father. Not even if she was pretending to be a boy. And that was one thing that the hands learned to never do on the Haruno residence. They had learned that Sakura had one of the worst tempers and if she lost it, they were sorry. She practically became a whole different person. And that was what happened.

"Oh! Punch his lights out!" She heard her inner voice exclaim, something she had somewhat developed while a child.

But, Sakura happily obliged into doing what she was told, though she wasn't exactly aware that she had done it until she felt her fist slam into the young man's jaw, sending him flying backward. It had startled her as much as it had startled him as he crashed into a table and made it collapse. Coffee and ramen went flying in every direction, landing on men all around the table and sitting at it.  
There were shouts of rage and pain as coffee or hot tea burned some. One young man, an energetic blonde with strange whisker like markings on his face, looked like he was going to start crying because his ramen had been ruined. Another with him, one with black spiky hair, looked incredibly angry as he had hot coffee spill all over his lap while one right by him, one with long black hair pulled back leapt up from his seat with coffee and noodles all over his front.

"Shikamaru! What are you doing, you lazy idiot?!" That one exclaimed angrily.

The young man, Shikamaru, the one that Sakura had punched quickly got up into a crouch while rubbing his aching jaw where he had been hit. He made a quick glance at the young man yelling at him before wincing. "Neji?! I'm sorry, man! Sasuke!" He then pointed at Sakura, who stepped back in shock. "He punched me! It's his fault!"

Sakura coiled back as all eyes turned onto her. She did not like the looks that they were giving her. Especially on the names that this Shikamaru had just said. She knew them from a distance. 'Oh no! It's Uchiha Sasuke! And isn't that Hinata's cousin, Hyuuga Neji?! Not good!' She thought moving back more steps. And what was worst, everyone was now glaring at her. Anyone who had been hit by food or was friends with Shikamaru or fans of the two nobles.

"Hey! Who do you think you are spoiling Neji and Sasuke's clothes like that?!" One young man exclaimed as he glared at Sakura.  
The blonde with whiskers nodded, glaring heatedly at her. "And ruining my ramen!"  
"Shut up, Naruto!" Another young man exclaimed. "No one cares about you!"  
And the blonde glared at him. But no one replied as they started to move towards Sakura, who swallowed hard and moved back. "Uh, I'm….I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to do that. Honest." She tried to reassure them.

Another young Shinobi snickered as he if he found what she had said was funny. "Heh, Shika was right. You really are a wimp." He remarked, earning a glare from Sakura.

Uchiha Sasuke just looked her over, still wiping noodles from his clothing. He squinted his eyes as he looked at her face then down before looking up again. He eyed her hair with discontent. "A boy, with pink hair." He snorted as he tilted his head to the side. "Now I've seen everything." He shook his head as he folded his arms, glaring. "Go home, pink boy. You don't belong here. Go home to your mother where you belong." He said now turning away. The other, Hyuuga Neji was frowning deeply as he looked Sakura over. He seemed to notice something but then shook his head as if deciding against from saying anything.

However, Sakura immediately frowned as she remembered her father's face flashing in her mind at Sasuke's words. She knew that she couldn't go home. If she did, her father would come and then he would die. And she was not going to let that happen.

"No."

Everyone nearly froze as soon as the word were out of her mouth. The black haired young man, Sasuke stopped from walking away and slowly turned back, giving her a serious look. "What did you just say to me?" He asked grimly. Sakura shifted her weight and lifted her chin with a very determined look on her face. "I said no. I came here to fight a war and gain a high honor. And I am not about to let some pretty boy tell me what to do. Nor push me around." She said firmly.

There was a very long silence between the glaring two, before the black haired boy smirked and shook his head. "You're going to be very sorry that you didn't leave, pinky. Very sorry." He said before waving a hand as he spun on his heel. "He's all yours, guys." He told everyone glaring at Sakura as he went over and stood next to Hyuuga Neji and another silent black haired young man.

The men all around Sakura just began cracking their knuckles as they started towards Sakura, sneering. One, being the blonde, Naruto. "You're so going to pay for ruining my ramen, pink boy." He growled, punching his fists together.

Sakura just shook her head as she backed away, her fists tightly clenched. She wouldn't have a problem fighting at least one of the young men. She had taken lessons from Suka, about ninjutsu since she had been 8 years old. But fighting all of them at once; that was going to be a problem. "I did you a favor, noodle breath. Ramen isn't good for your brain." She then smirked as she eyed the angry blonde. "Not that you have one. You're so dumb that you'd probably be cast out of the army before you know it." She wasn't aware that the insult was probably not a good idea.

"THAT'S IT!" the blonde roared, as he started to lunge. "YOU ARE SO DEAD!" he was quickly followed by the other men.

Sakura quickly began moving to avoid flying fists of fury at her. She ran over and behind a crate of food to distance herself but they were all over her. She decided to try and fight it out. She began ducking under fists and threw her own. This was not a good idea, she realized but she would prove to these men that she could be just like them.

* * *

"…..Orochimaru and his men have already sent word that they will wait a full year for us to prepare an army to fight, so that will give us time." Someone spoke from within a tent not too far away from the big fighting crowds. "The so called Secret Sound Nin, Orochimaru's band, will probably begin their attacks in the East though, demolishing any village or farms in that area. But we will go there and stop them at all costs."

The tent of the Shinobi was full of elites, men above that age of 20. There were at least ten Jounin and a few Chuunin standing around a table, where Namikaze Minato was standing, looking at a map of the Fire Country. He was marking territories where he believed Orochimaru might attack. He was looking rather grave as he briefed his men, but they didn't look any happier.  
"And what about the new recruits in the camp, Minato-sama?" A Jounin standing off to the side asked. "Who will train them?" This man was quite tall and had short black hair. He looked rather rugged and was smoking a cigarette, which seemed to disgust a few of his comrades.  
Minato's lips curved up a little as he looked at the Jounin who had spoke. But then he shrugged. "Well, there are quite a few choices, Asuma." He told the smoking Jounin. "I've decided that most of you will train the new recruits. But the one I will leave in charge of everything," he paused, his eyes drifting to a Jounin standing in a far corner, away from everyone else. "I've decided that it will be Kakashi."

The spoken Shinobi tilted his head as a few eyes turned in his direction but he was looking at the golden haired Shinobi. He was quite tall, yet he was shorter than he actually looked, due to his silver white hair standing up on end, slumping over just a little. He was a young man, at least in his mid twenties, 27 at least. He was wearing the usual Shinobi outfit, black pants and jacket with the leaf green vest. Around his waist he was wearing a travel pack. A kunai holster was on his right leg as well as a mini bag of shruikens and throwing stars. He was fairly handsome, though his bottom of his face was well hidden from view by a skintight mask. His forehead protector was pulled down over his left eye though, while his dark brown one was focused on Minato.

"Kakashi?!" Another Shinobi exclaimed, clearly not liking the idea. He was slightly shorter than the silver haired one, though his hair was black and in a bowl cut style, hanging over dark eyes and caterpillar eyebrows. He was wearing all green though. "Why him?!"

Minato, as well as everyone else looked at that one, before shaking his head with a faint smile. "Kakashi is the best choice, Gai. He has more experience than any of you and knows more techniques to teach the new recruits. He's a master of the jutsus." He said sounding a little fond of the silver haired Shinobi.  
The Shinobi, Maito Gai just snorted as he folded his arms across his strong chest. "Pfft. He's just a teacher's pet." He grumbled.  
Other Shinobi rolled their eyes, Kakashi being one, though he was chuckling darkly to himself and shaking his head. "Get jealous much, Gai?" He remarked, dryly. Gai glared at him while shaking a fist in his direction of his "Eternal Rival".

But Minato sighed, shaking his head as he held up a hand. He was clearly not happy with the outcome. "Enough, you two. We don't have time to argue among each other. My decision is final, Gai. Kakashi will be the commander of the training camp. It's not just my decision anyway. The Hokage wishes it as well. Kakashi is the strictest Shinobi we have. He will make sure that the boys will be ready within the year to fight Orochimaru. You, on the other hand, would go easy on them. Do not deny it either." He told him when the Shinobi opened his mouth to argue. "We need to be hard on the boys. They will have to be ready to fight for their lives and this country. They will be going up against Orochimaru, an S ranked Shinobi and once was the student of our Hokage. You all know his history. You know how dangerous he is. There's a very good chance that half of these boys won't go home alive." He said in a miserable voice. "Maybe more than half. If Kakashi wasn't the one to train them, I'm sure that all of them would die. That's why he's going to be the one in charge. I have faith in all of you. You all are the strongest and most powerful Shinobi we have. But these boys need the strictest if they want to survive. Respect my choice, Gai. You know it's true."

No one spoke as they listened to what Minato said, and they all silently agreed. It was true that some of them might take it easy on the boys. They didn't like being hard on their students, making it almost impossible to complete tasks. But they knew that if the boys were truly going to go up against Orochimaru, they would need a very strict teacher. And the strictest was Hatake Kakashi.

"My son is one of the new recruits." Gai muttered under his breath, but he knew that the others heard him anyway. "All right. I guess Kakashi can train him." He then pointed an accusing finger at the Shinobi. "You better be nice to him though, Kakashi!"

Again, everyone rolled their eyes, including Kakashi, who shifted his weight to standing up straighter. Minato just sighed shaking his head as he stood up. "I know you're son, Rock Lee is one of the new recruits, Gai. I've seen him in the camp. But you have to remember, my son is also one of the new recruits." He spoke rather softly, before his eyes snapped open wide, as if he had sensed something.

Suddenly there came a loud yelp as someone came crashing through the entrance of the tent, stumbling and falling over himself and crashing down onto the table that the Shinobi were standing around. Every Shinobi jumped to their feet or placed their hands on their Kunai before frowning when the saw who it was.

"Speak of the devil. Here he is now." A Shinobi named Genma said while smirking.

The blonde haired 18-year-old was swearing up a storm as he tried to get to his feet. He looked very much like his father, though he had the whisker markings on his face. He was saying the most vulgar words as he climbed to his feet, saying how he was going to kill someone for hitting him. "That kid is so dead!" He snarled, not seeming to realize where he was.

Minato just frowned as he watched his son start towards the tent entrance. But he shook his head as he followed after and grabbed the young man's arm, stopping him. "Naruto! What is the meaning of this?!" He demanded. He wasn't happy that his son had just came crashing into the tent during a very important briefing meeting. In a way, the boy had just embarrassed him.  
Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto looked up at the one who had grabbed him before he winced and grinned sheepishly. "Oh….hi, dad. Sorry I crashed into your tent."

Minato still glared accusingly at his son, shaking his head. "But what in the world are you doing, Naruto? What is the meaning…..?!"

That was then every single Shinobi heard the shouting from outside the tent. They could hear a fight going on and by the sounds of it, it wasn't just a friendly brawl that usually happened between boys. So without a word, they all began to file out. Minato, Naruto and Kakashi were the last ones to leave though.

Once outside, everyone froze to see so many new recruits all over the place, fighting like cats and dogs. Some were throwing jutsu at each other and some were just duking it out on each other. The fight was pretty big and mostly trained on one boy, who looked rather roughed up as everyone tried to attack him.

It was a great surprise to everyone, though, to see a boy with pink hair.

But apparently the golden haired Shinobi had seen one before. His eyes lit up surprise when he saw the 'boy', though he was well aware that it was actually a girl in disguise. He remembered her, though she did look rather different. He couldn't believe she had actually cut her long, pink hair into making herself look like a boy and donned men's clothing. Minato was well aware of Haruno Sakura's intentions and why she was there. He had known that she was going to do something to protect her father. He had actually given her the idea. But this was not what he expected. This was not what he had in mind. He had expected her to hire a man to pose as her brother to join the Ninja training camp. But she hadn't. Instead, she was doing it herself.

"What the?!" Gai remarked as he looked at the pink haired girl. "Now that's something you don't see everyday. A pink haired boy."

A Shinobi, Ibiki beside him frowned as he watched the 'boy' duck under a flying kick before lashing out 'his' foot and kicked the attacker in the back. "Are you sure that's a boy? He seems really beautiful to be one. Too girlish like and….."

"No." Minato surprised himself as he spoke. He wasn't even sure why he was speaking in the behalf of Sakura. He figured it was the fact that she would be killed if found out. "That's a boy. I know him. I've had the opportunity to meet him when I went to see his family. He is Haruno Daisuka's son. I don't remember his name though."

Everyone looked surprised to hear that. They all knew Haruno Daisuka's name. He had been a well-known Shinobi at one time. But they didn't know too much about his family. Kakashi, however, narrowed his one eye in the pink haired 'boy's' direction. "Haruno Daisuka's son?" He asked in skepticism. "I didn't know he had a son. I was aware that he had a…."

Minato pulled a face while everyone was looking away but he quickly shook his head as he stepped closer to his once student. "He has twins, Kakashi." He lied casually. "A boy and a girl. They both have pink hair and are identical." He turned his eyes back to Sakura, just in time to see her throw a man off of her before ducking under a fist again. He couldn't help but chuckle to see how well she was doing. She looked like she was actually used to this sort of thing, even though he knew that she hadn't been. "Hmm. I think I might like this boy. He's kind of feisty. I'd hate to see what his sister is like." He smirked towards Kakashi. Kakashi, however, looked highly annoyed as he looked away. He didn't want to get into this argument. The other Shinobi caught onto something. They knew there was a hidden meaning underneath that message. It just made them even more curious.

"Oooh! And does our Kakashi know that boy's twin sister?" Gai asked grinning mischievously.

Kakashi shot him a dark look before starting towards the fighting group of new recruits. He was not going to get into that subject with Gai. No way, no how. But as he was passing by the Shinobi, he stopped as Gai grabbed his arm and held on. "Come on, Kashi. Spill it. What kind of scandal are you pulling now? We all know you." The black haired Jounin said grinning. There was a short pause before Kakashi yanked his arm free from Gai's grip and shook his head as he kept his eye away from him. "I don't know what you're talking about. If its about my books, get a life, Gai. It's my business, not yours." He remarked dryly before going over towards the fight.

"Ouch." Gai said wincing before looking at Minato who shook his head. He caught him muttering the name Tsunade under his breath. "Oh, let me guess. Tsunade showed up at his place giving him the ol' "You-need-to-settle-down" routine again, didn't she?" He asked, making a face. Minato nodded as he watched his former student but then followed after him.

Sakura gasped for air after getting it knocked from her lungs as one man had elbowed her. She quickly tried to move away only to get tripped by another young man. 'Oh boy!' She thought fearfully as several fists came flying at her head. "Not good!" She yelped covering her head to protect herself.

"Gentlemen!" Someone barked.

Immediately the fists stopped from hitting Sakura and was held before all of their owners spun away from the pink haired girl and looked to see who was yelling at them. Sakura uncovered her head a little to see who her savior was and froze when she saw the golden haired Shinobi that had went to her house. And he was looking at her with a pleasant smile.  
Now as for who had just saved her from getting a beating of a lifetime, he was quite taller than her if she was standing up. He had silver white hair that nearly stood up on end and one eye was covered with his forehead protector. There was no doubt that this was an Elite Shinobi, by the vest he was wearing. But right now, he wasn't looking too friendly.

"Oh man. It's him! The Copy Nin!" One of the nearest men gasped under his breath before he and all of the other men quickly backed away from Sakura and stood up tall.

Sakura, on the other hand, clumsily got to her feet and brushed herself off before she realized that the Shinobi was standing over her. She looked up at him, seeing the dry look he was giving her and she suddenly realized that she was suppose to be doing what the other young men were doing. She gave them a quick glance before straightening herself, trying to be as stiff as they were.

The Elite Shinobi was not impressed by the look on his face. "What do you think you are doing picking a fight in my camp?" The silver haired Shinobi asked dryly.

Sakura frowned a little and was a little stumped but it was clear that he was angry with her. About the mess that was just made in trying to defend herself. "Uh….sorry." She paused when she heard one of them snort. She then remembered what the young man, Shikamaru had said about her being a wimp so she decided to take on the tough boy sort. So, she tried grinning at the Shinobi. "I mean, sorry you had to see that. But you know how we men like to be. You know, so tough and all. Teaching wimps like them a lesson." She even added a punch to shoulder for an affect.

That seemed to be a very BIG mistake.

Sakura saw the dry look that the Shinobi was giving her turned into a full out glare and she saw a few of the other young men wince while others snickered. She cringed a little knowing that she had done wrong.

"Let me see your papers." The Shinobi said coolly.

Immediately, Sakura dug into her pockets for the summoning scroll before finding it. She quickly held it out to the Shinobi, who practically snatched it from her and looked over it. His eye followed each line before looking back at her, his eyebrow raising and he tilted his head. "So, you're from the Haruno clan, huh? The son of Haruno Daisuka?" He asked still serious as ever.

However, the name made quite a few other young men gasp and began murmuring. It still made Sakura frown but at least the men seemed to think she was a boy. "Yes. I am." She told him.

"Yes, what?" The Elite asked roughly.

Sakura was taken back by surprise by how he suddenly was angry at her. She was wondering what she had done wrong. She even tried to look at the other young men to see if they would help her out, which they weren't going to, she looked to Minato instead, hoping he would give her a hint. He seemed to, because he smiled and shook his head before mouthing, 'Yes, sir.'

"Yes, sir!" Sakura quickly said, her eyes snapping back to the Shinobi.

The Elite Shinobi still didn't look satisfied. He just frowned, at least she knew he frowned. She couldn't see the frown because his mouth was hidden by his mask. But she could tell because of the look on his face. But then he held up the scroll. "Your papers are missing one thing. Your name. What is it?"

Sakura's heart nearly stopped as her eyes snapped wide open. She could not believe of how stupid she truly was. She had forgotten to pick out a boy's name. She knew she couldn't be called Sakura. That was a girl's name. But she knew that she better answer quickly because the Shinobi wasn't looking any happier.

"Well?" He asked impatiently.

Sakura quickly searched her mind quickly for a name. But all she was getting was blank. Her mind was racing but she wasn't finding anything. "Uh….."

Now the Shinobi looked even more annoyed. He folded his arms and shifted his weight, while looking very annoyed. "Well?! Do you have a name or don't you?!" He asked roughly. Sakura nodded timidly as she still tried to think of a name. "O-of course I do. I do have a name." She said flushing bright red. "An-and it's a boy's name." She could have slammed herself to the ground for that. She knew how stupid she was sounding. Even some of the men were sniggering. And they weren't the only ones. Some of the Shinobi cracked smiles and were shaking their heads. "It's….it's ah…."

"What is your name?!" Again the Shinobi asked, sounding more angrier.

And then a word popped into her mind. She didn't know where it came from but she had. It was the only name that came to her so she quickly said, "Zaku!" Everything seemed to stop at once. The men stopped laughing at her and now the Shinobi rose his eyebrow, now looking at least a little satisfied that he finally got a name. "Zaku?"

Sakura nodded quickly as she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yes, si-sir. My name is Haruno Zaku." She tried to sound brave, but unfortunately, her voice cracked. She was terrified out of her wits. The look that the Shinobi had been giving her a minute ago had almost been murderous.

After a long moment, the Shinobi nodded before turning away from her and looked around the camp at everyone else. The men all straightened again, lifting their heads higher than before. "Listen up!" The Shinobi called out loudly, now starting to pace in front of them. "I am Hatake Kakashi and I will be training you for the last year of your lives!" The name took Sakura by surprise. She remembered that name, Hatake. She wondered exactly who this was and what his part in the clan was. But she chose to ponder over it later.  
"My word is law here, boys. If you think this is going to be like a summer camp, guess again." Kakashi said dryly, his arms still folded over his chest. "We're not here to teach you how to sing camp fire songs or how to row a boat. We're here to train you to be soldiers! This will be the roughest training you will ever go through in your lives. You will do what you are told!" He told them in a loud voice. "When I say jump, you leap for the moon. When I tell you to crawl, you get on your damned bellies and crawl like worms." His voice was rather serious and rough right about now. "If you can't cut it, you go home with dishonor for your family! Now then," He glanced over at Sakura, who cringed a little. "Thanks to your new friend, Zaku, you all made a mess out of this camp. And now you are going to clean it up. No one can rest, eat, sleep or sit down without my saying so. If you do, you will be punished. Now start picking up every noodle and fix what you have broken!" He ordered.

Sakura winced again as she saw the look Kakashi gave her a cold look before turning away. But that look was no where near the looks she was getting from the other young men. Every single young man she had gotten into a fight with was now glaring at her in a most dangerous way. They looked like they were getting ready to kill her. So many murderous looks, so many daggers in those hundreds of eyes. She knew that there was no way she was going to make friends out of these guys.

"Haruno Zaku."

Sakura tensed when she heard his voice again but slowly turned to look right up at Minato, who was still smiling at her. He had one eyebrow raised as he looked her over. And by the look on his face, he knew who she really was. "Uh….y-yes?"

Minato just smiled before he turned away, motioning for her to follow him. "I would like a word with you, Miss…." He paused to look at her slyly. "Mister Haruno." He finished. Sakura felt her face drain of color, knowing that he was going to say something about her being there. But it wasn't just that look that had her nervous. It was the now returned look that Kakashi was giving her. He had heard what his old teacher had said and turned back to protest.

"Master Minato-san," He interrupted. "The boy needs to help clean up the mess that he made." He said seriously.

But Minato just waved Kakashi away with his hand, shaking his head. "Relax, Kakashi. It won't take long. I'll be quick. Then he can join his comrades to cleaning up." He promised, then motioned for Sakura to join him. Sakura timidly followed, glancing at Kakashi who rose an eyebrow at her but did not say anything after that. They both walked well away from the others, from prying ears so that no one could hear what they were going to talk about.

But after a long moment, Minato spun on his heel and faced Sakura, who immediately halted from running into him. "I thought I told you not to do anything stupid." He said dryly. "Why didn't you listen to me?"

Sakura swallowed hard as she looked down at the ground. So she had been right. Namikaze Minato did recognize her and did know what she really was. She knew she was in for it and big time. "I'm sorry. But I couldn't let my father die." She said shaking her head. "He's too old and the limp in his leg would have slowed him down. He would have been killed."

Minato frowned seriously, giving her a look of warning but then he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Ah, what am I going to do with you, Miss Haruno? I agree that Suka was not fit to rejoin the Shinobi lines but you are a woman. Women do not belong in the war. It's way too dangerous. There's reason why we don't let them join Shinobi ranks." He gave her a very serious look. "The law would have me execute you immediately. This is breaking way too many laws at once." He saw her flinch but still did not meet his eye. "And I should just send you home to avoid that. But I won't."

Sakura's head snapped up and she looked at him in shock. She couldn't believe that he just said that. She knew that he was breaking the law if he didn't punish her or sent her home.

Minato just shook his head, still looking seriously at her. "I'll let you decide, young Zaku. You can either quit or you can just get kicked out. I must warn you now. My former student, Kakashi is not easy to get along with. He's very strict and does not allow anyone to play around. He is going to be very hard on everyone, even you if you continue this charade." He shook his head again. "He has my orders to make sure that everyone in this training camp will be ready to fight for their lives from the greatest enemy of the Fire Country. And that is to work these boys into men. This is going to be back breaking for everyone. If you stay, you will have blisters on your soft, delicate hands and it will tire you out until you drop. Eventually," He paused to tilted his head to the side. "You will break and you will give up."

The words echoed inside of Sakura's mind like the sound on the walls of a cavern. They scared her. It made her feel like she was going to cry. To feel that bad, it hurt. Maybe she should give up while she had the chance. At least she would still live and no one would ever know what she tried to do. Only herself, her mother and her father…..

"Father." She whispered with a gasp.

She remembered how she had seen him fall down, struggling to get up. She remembered the look of pain on his face and how she never wanted to see him like that again. She refused to She could not let him fall down again.

So with all the determination she could muster, Sakura looked up at Minato, with such sternness that it nearly surprised him. "I will never quit and I will never fail." She said boldly. "If I fall, I will get back up. If I get blisters on my soft, delicate hands, I will just put ointment on them until my hands hardened with my labors. I may have been a woman yesterday, sir, but I am a man today. I will not let my father fight this war when I can do it for him. This is my fight for honor. I couldn't get my honor as a bride, so I will do it as a soldier." She said with pride.

There was a long silence between the two before Minato's face softened and he looked at her with a smile. "You really are a fiesty one, Haruno. But I will guarentee you, Kakashi will find a way of breaking you.."

Sakura forced a smile as she looked into his deep blue eyes. "I don't break easy."

That really made Minato smile as he lift his chin higher. He had to admit it, she was full of courage. He had expected her to be afraid but she wasn't showing any fear. "We shall see." He said softly before nodding. "I do hope you're right. Because I like your spirit. That's why I'm letting you stay. I hope to see you in six months when I come for a check on the training status. Do not let me down, Haruno."

Sakura only smiled at him, still a little too serious. "I won't. I swear it."

Minato just nodded as he turned away and started back towards the Elite Shinobi. He paused to wait for Sakura, who quickly joined his side. "I'm going to give you one more warning, Zaku. Kakashi is not going to take it easy on you. He will not take you under his wing or anything. If you fall, he won't catch you or help you back up. He's not like that. He expects you to get up on your own." He told her.

"…..He….he doesn't know, does he?" Sakura asked looking up at him.

Minato shook his head as he already knew what she was talking about. "No. He doesn't know that you're a girl. Not yet anyway. You're going to have to be very careful around him. He will figure it out if you're not. He's one of the most intelligent Shinobi I've ever taught. So whatever girly habits you have, drop them immediately. You have to convince him that you are a boy. You must have repulsive habits." He made a face at the thought. "Spit in public, pass gas without a thank you, if you must. Burp out loud. But keep it a limit. It annoys Kakashi and you don't want to do that. Pretty much, just do whatever he says but don't be a mindless drone. He likes it when people think for theirselves but obeys the rules." he warned her.  
"I'll try to remember that." Sakura murmured before glancing at him.  
Minato was still giving her a serious look as he looked down at her. "Be careful, Zaku. I mean it. If you act like a girl once around Kakashi, he will catch on. He's one of the most intelligent students I've ever taught. He will figure it out." He told her sternly.  
Sakura only nodded as they started to approach the others, but hesitated when she saw some murderous looks thrown in her direction. She knew that she was in trouble with them. And she had a feeling that they weren't too happy that she was actually 'befriending' Uzumaki-Namikaze Minato.  
"Hmm. You better start helping them clean, Zaku, or you're going to have a lot of enemies." The golden haired Shinobi told her, also noticing the looks.  
Sakura made a weak face as she nodded. "I think I've already done that. They don't like me very much. I don't think anyone's going to go easy on me." She murmured.  
Minato's eyes flickered over to her, pausing for a long moment before he sighed. He just patted her on the back, giving her a light push. "You'll be fine." He told her. Then he watched her start cleaning up, though away from the young men. "I'll make sure of it." He muttered to himself before he looked around for his son, spotting him helping fix a table. With a deep breath, he went over to those young men. "Naruto."  
The blonde young man, Naruto, turned around before grinning when he saw his father. He gave the other men a quick wave of the hand to let them know he would be right back before hurrying over. "Hey, dad!" he said excitedly. "Leaving already?"  
"Not just yet." Minato told him silently before moving closer. "I need you to do me a favor, Naruto, while I'm gone and you are here."  
Naruto grinned as he looked wide eyed up at his father and even started bouncing on his heels. He would do anything to impress the Great Minato. No matter what it was. "What?!" He asked excitedly.  
"I need you to watch Haruno Zaku's back, keeping the others from picking on him or hurting him."  
That came as a slap in the face for Naruto. His excited look immediately vanished and he looked at Minato as if he was crazy. "What?!" He exclaimed. But...why?! He's a pink haired jerk who ruined my ramen and kind of a loser and..." He stopped when Minato gave him a dry glare. He knew he was in trouble now. He only got that look when he did something really stupid or said a nasty curse word.  
"Naruto!" Minato scolded. "I'm surprised at you. You should not discriminate Haruno Zaku because of the color of his hair and a stupid accident. Ramen is ramen. I know you love it, but Zaku is a person." He shook his head as he folded his arms and shifted his weight. "Do you really not like Zaku because of his hair?"  
Naruto frowned but nodded. "Well, yeah. No one likes him because of his hair. Pink hair is for girly boys."  
Minato sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. He couldn't believe that Naruto didn't like 'Zaku' just because he had pink hair. "Naruto," he sighed. "You disappoint me. To judge one so wrongly, that is not fair. If you truly believe that Zaku is weak or stupid just because of his hair, you shame me." He told him. To even hear that, Naruto's eyes widened with surprise before he lowered his head with a frown. He had never really shamed Minato before. Why? Just because he didn't like a pink haired brat? Now that he actually thought about it, it really wasn't fair. So he figured that he should give Zaku a chance.  
"Oh, fine. I'll be nice to Haruno. But it doesn't mean I'll like him and be his friend." He grumbled.  
Minato smiled and shook his head before he reached over and ruffled his son's already messy blond hair. "Good, Naruto. Thank you for doing this. Now, work very hard while here at camp. I know you will make me proud." He told him. Naruto just grumbled before going back to work.

Minato found Kakashi next watching over the new recruits, making sure that they were doing everything they were suppose to do. And doing it right. A few he scolded and made them work even faster. But as his old sensai approached, the silver-white haired Shinobi turned and looked at him.

"Kakashi," Minato began. "I'm leaving now with my men. But I wish you good luck with the boys."

Kakashi only nodded as he bowed to Minato at the waist then straightened as his revealed eye flickered over to the pink haired boy. "What about Haruno Zaku, Master Minato-sama? What should I do with him? Send him home?" He asked in a low voice. Minato just frowned as he glanced over at 'Zaku' but then shook his head. "Are you not willing to give him a chance, Kashi? You just want to send him home without any chance at all?"

"He does not belong here, Master. He's not strong enough." Kakashi said dryly but then looked squarely at him when Minato placed his hand onto his shoulder.  
The golden haired Shinobi shook his head at his student. "I want you to give him a chance, Kakashi. There's potentional in that boy. I can see it. He's stronger than he looks. Give him a chance to prove himself. He might just be one of those soldiers you're looking for to end this war. Keep an eye on him." He then smiled slyly. "You might turn out to like him."

Kakashi rolled his revealed eye and shifted his weight. "I highly doubt that, Master. He looks like an idiot to me." He muttered. Minato rose an eyebrow with a deep chuckle rumbling out from his chest. "Oh, Kakashi. This isn't about what Tsunade said when she visited you yesterday, is it?" He saw how tense Kakashi suddenly became and he grinned. "Relax, my young friend. It's up to you, not her that if you go up with the match up. She only wants to make sure your clan continues to flourish. And just think of it this way, Zaku may just as well become your..."

"I'm not going to get into that right now." Kakashi said impatiently. "I have other things to worry about besides worrying about getting married to some girl that I don't even know. And I certainly am not going to give the Haruno boy a special treatment just because of that girl. This whole arranged marriage thing is stupid in my opinion." He then pointed at a young man close by. "You!" He called. The young man he was suddenly yelling at was a large young fellow with circular markins around his cheeks. He looked up at Kakashi with wide eyes, looking like he had just been caught doing something very bad. "Uh, yes, sir?"

"What is your name?" Kakashi asked folding his arms.

The large young man swallowed hard, as if he was swallowing something, coughing a little. "Um, Akimichi Choji, sir." He answered.

Kakashi gave him a very dry look before shaking his head. "Well, Akimichi Choji, you just earned a lap around the camp for eating ramen off the ground, which is very nasty, by the way." He then threw his thumb over his shoulder. "Now start running."

"What?! I was not eating...!" Choji exclaimed but stopped at the look on Kakashi's face.  
The silver-white haired Shinobi narrowed his dark eye onto him, giving him a look as if daring to argue with him. "Do you really want to argue with me, Choji? Or do you want to add a hundred laps to your sentence?"  
With a grumble, Choji began running, while other young men gave him a sympathedic look and others sniggered.

Minato sighed, shaking his head before he clapped Kakashi on the back. "Don't overdo it, Kakashi. They're still young. You really shouldn't be that hard on them." He told him. Kakashi just shook his head as he once again folded his arms. "They may be young, Master. But they're old enough to know how to handle the pressure. And if they don't, it won't save their lives." He then turned to face Minato, again bowing to him. "Good luck master. And be careful."  
"Thank you, Kakashi. And I wish you luck with the boys. Turn them into men, will you?" Minato told him, bowing back before he turned and was hurrying away from the camp with a large group of ANBU.


	5. Chapter 4

**Four:**

It was by nightfall when the camp was finally cleaned, at least to Kakashi's standards. The new recruits had spent hours on end cleaning it up and fixing everything that got broken. As of now, they were all beyond exhausted, sitting on the ground or leaning against poles while rubbing their eyes. Some of them looked like they were actually sleep walking.  
Standing all around them was the Elites, some looking at the young men with pity while some just shook their heads. Kakashi was in the front,looking all of the young men over, dryly. His unrevealed eye was on the pink haired 'boy', Zaku, who was sitting 'his' self.

Sakura was one of the few rubbing her eyes, trying to get rid of the sleep in them. She had never been so exhausted in her life. Of course, she had never had to work this hard either. But she knew that she better get used to it. The training was only beginning and she knew that it was going to get harder from there on.  
She suddenly looked up when someone sank down onto the ground next to her, his arms wrapping around his knees as he was waiting for further instructions. It was a surprise to see that the blonde, Naruto was actually sitting by her while the other young men were well away from her.  
Naruto didn't say a word as he just sat there, looking towards the Elites. He didn't even spare a glance at Sakura. Sakura tilted her head in curiousity before noticing some of the looks that the other young men were giving them. Though her eyes paused on Hyuuga Neji, who was watching her. A few of the men were too, but there was a strange look on Neji's face. He was looking at her with a little curiousity. Almost questionably. But that wasn't just it. He also seemed to be looking her over and that made her tense. She wondered why in the world he was doing that. But then both of them looked away from one another when Kakashi cleared his throat for everyone's attention.

"Congradualations." The silver-white haired Shinobi said, his arms folding over his chest. "You've managed to clean the entire camp before it got too late. I'm half impressed. I thought you wouldn't do it before midnight." He then shook his head as he dropped his arms. "Your reward, bed time. Get some sleep, gentlemen. Because the real training is going to start early. You're all to be up right before dawn. Anyone that's late, answers to me." He then waved a hand towards them, as if waving them away before turning to the other Elites and having a silent word with them.

Mumbling, everyone climbed to their feet and started to move towards their tents. Sakura, however, stood still, looking around wide eyes. There was a problem with her getting to sleep. Where was she suppose to sleep?! She didn't even have a tent.  
Sakura sighed and shook her head as she looked around. "Great." She mumbled before looking at the nearest young man, passing by her. It was one of the young men she believed to be called Kiba. "Uh, excuse me." She said to him, and he rose an eyebrow at her. "Do you have any idea where my tent would be located?"  
The young man snorted as he shifted his weight. He was giving her a look as if she was a retard. "Your tent? You were suppose to bring one for your own. Not to mention, set it up." He then shrugged. "Of course, I don't see the point. It's a nice night and suppose to be warm. I'm going to sleep out doors." He then wandered off, laughing at Sakura.

**"Cha! Don't tell us that you forgot to pack a tent."** The inner Sakura grumbled inside her head.

Sakura was grumbling herself as her shoulders slouched and her head lowered. "This is so not my day." She muttered as she just stood there. "Not only I can't make any friends around here, I don't have a tent." She shook her head as she folded one arm over her chest and planted her head in the other hand. She was going to need to figure something out. She figured she could spend the night outside like that guy, Kiba. But exactly how was she going to change without anyone looking?

Just then, a blanket was thrown over her head and a tent bag was tossed down at her feet.

"Ah!" Sakura yelped before scampering to pull the blanket off of her head. She turned to see who had given her what she needed. And to her surprise, it was the silver-white haired Jounin, Kakashi.  
Kakashi was eyeing her dully and really didn't look surprised to see that she hadn't brought a tent. He was just standing there, his arms folded and his head tilted to the side. "Set up your tent and go to bed. This is the only time I'm going to be nice, got that?" He told her.

Sakura just blinked at him surprise before she felt a wave of relief roll over her. She quickly bowed to him in gratitude. "Uh, thank you. Um, sir." She added really quickly as she straightened up.  
But Kakashi wasn't moving either. He was actually just standing there, looking like he was waiting for something. And then she realized that he was waiting for her to start setting up her tent. Sakura made a face as she looked down at her tent bag before starting to pull everything out. She noticed immediately that she had no stakes to use. And there was another problem. She had never pitched a tent before. "Um..."  
"Hmph." Kakashi hummed impatiently. "Let me guess. You don't know how to pitch a tent, do you?" He asked skeptically. He still didn't move to help her. He just turned away, shaking his head. "You better learn real fast, Haruno, or it's going to be a long night for you." And he walked away.

Sakura sighed pitifully as she watched him before getting to work. She wasn't exactly too sure how everything was to go but she was going to try. She laid the tent out and attempted to set it up. It took many tries before she finally got it up. However, it was slumping to the side, looking more like a rag standing up on a stick.  
"Oh." She sighed as she looked around. She was having a feeling that some of the guys were watching her and laughing. She didn't blame them. She was pretty sure that she looked pathedic.  
But since she was so tired, she was going to not worried about it right now. It would have to do until the morning when she could try again. So she began climbing into the tent, ready to get some sleep.

"Oh please. Aren't you going to set up your tent the right way?"

Sakura jumped in her so called tent and spun around to see Naruto standing there, looking at the tent with a sweatdrop rolling down the side of his face. His state really made Sakura blush. He was wearing only boxer shorts with hearts on them and a black tank top. He was barefoot, not even wearing his sandals.  
Sakura felt her face flush but luckily it was pretty dark so that he couldnt' see it. "Um, I did set up my tent." She said looking at the tent above her.  
Naruto rolled his eyes before moving forward. He began grabbing at the tent and straightening it. "Got any kunai on you or are you just using butter knives from the kitchen?" He asked saracastically. Sakura gave him a look of annoyance but pulled out a few of her kunai, holding them out to him. Naruto took them and used them as stakes for the tent. In no time, the tent was actually looking like a tent and not a rag.

"Um, why are you helping me?" Sakura asked, tilting her head in a curious way. "I thought you hated me."

Naruto just glanced at her as he reached into the tent and fixed the tent post to make it straighter. "I don't hate anyone but Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like you, okay? But I'm helping you because you looked really stupid trying to set up your tent." He said impatiently.  
Sakura frowned at him. She was actually surprised that he just told her that he hated Sasuke. Hadn't they been friends? "Why do you hate Sasuke? I thought you were friends because you were sitting by each other earlier."

Again, Naruto rolled his eyes as he stepped back from the tent, looking it over then nodding in satisfaction. "Uchiha Sasuke is NOT my friend!" He even crossed his arms, making an X. "He's the most annoying guy I know. He thinks he's so cool just because he's one of the nobles and every girl in the country is drooling over him. Besides, I wasn't sitting next to him. I was sitting with Neji, who happens to be Sasuke's friend." He said sounding a little grumpy. Sakura decided not to ask anymore. So she just sat there, shrugging. "Thanks, Naruto." She said once he turned to start moving away. The blonde only waved a hand impatiently at her, but his mood seemed to lighten a little. As soon as he was gone, Sakura closed the tent flaps and climbed into the sleeping mat. At least one of the guys weren't being a jerk to her anymore. Soon, she was fast asleep, dreaming of home.

* * *

Back at the Haruno Residence, the Haruno clan were devastated when they found Sakura missing. And what was worst, they knew where she had gone. The very second Daisuka woke up before dawn, he knew something was wrong. His old battle wound in his leg was aching and he knew that was a sign of something going wrong. He immediately looked to see if the summoning scroll was still on his bedside table, and to his grief, it was gone.  
He had spent most of the day searching for Sakura, looking around on the house grounds, hoping she was still there. But finding his old war clothes gone, along with his weapons, he knew that she was gone and wasn't going to come back. At least for a while.  
Suka, however, did not follow Sakura, no matter how much Rukia asked him to. He knew that if he went to the training camp and revealed his daughter's true identity, she would die. It was a crime to impersonate a soldier, nonetheless a man. It was treason to the Shinobi ways and to the Hokage.

So instead, he spent the entire day praying to the former Hokages and the heros of the Fire Country that Sakura wouldn't be found out, nor killed in the terrible war.

Now, Suka was sitting in his dojo, looking out into the night sky with grieving tears in his eyes. He was extremely worried about Sakura. He hoped that she would be okay. He blamed himself for running away from home. If only he hadn't been so tough on her, she probably wouldn't have run away.  
After a long silence, Suka lowered his head and closed his eyes. He let out a long sigh, already knowing that he wasn't alone. He had sensed the new presense enter the room.

"You're very good with your stealth, my young friend. But I know you are there."

There was a low chuckle from the shadows before Uzumaki-Namikaze Minato stepped out and silently walked over to his side. "You may be old, Master Suka-san, but you are still the Shinobi you once were." He said with amusement.

Suka did not look up at him but just stared outside. "Minato, have you come for a social call or to tell me that my daughter is dead?" He asked glumily. He tilted his head a little when the golden haired Shinobi knelt beside him and joined him to staring outside.  
"Neither one." Minato said sitting up straight. "Your son, Zaku is alive and safe at the Ninja Training camp."  
Suka blinked a few times before looking at him, surprised. He wasn't sure he had heard right. Had Minato actually said that his son, Zaku was alive and safe. "My...my son?" He asked in confusion.  
Minato gave him a gentle smile before looking out at the stars. "Don't be too surprised, Master Suka." He told him. "You know why Sakura's doing it. She's doing it for your life and your honor. You know as well as I do that you wouldn't have been able to survive too long because of that wound you gotten years ago. It would have killed you."

"Sakura...so she is posing as..." Suka was saying before he frowned and looked directly at Minato. "And you knew that it was her when you saw her but didn't do anything. Why didn't you?"

The golden haired Shinobi just shook his head as he looked back at him, still smiling in his friendly way. "No. I'm not going to do anything. I'm going to let her stay. No one by myself knows that your son, Haruno Zaku is indeed your daughter, Haruno Sakura. And hopefully, they won't notice." He paused still smiling. "I must admit it though. She's a very brave young woman, Suka, to be doing this. She's very determined. If she wasn't, she would have came home a long time ago. But she is determined to fight out this war for you. She loves you enough to risk her life. And for that, I'm giving her a chance." He told the older Shinobi, who still looked rather surprised.

"But..." Suka looked away. "She's a woman playing as a man, in a war. She could be killed."

Minato just frowned as he looked away. "And she would be if she was revealed. Give her a chance, Suka, to do this. I know she can do it. I've seen the potentional in her." He said sounding very serious. Suka just frowned at him but there was still one thing bothering him. "Why though? Sakura is a woman. And women have no business in a war." He said thoughtfully.  
Minato didn't look at him, nor spoke for a long moment. But then he tilted his head towards Suka, his cerulean blue eyes looking into Suka's black ones. "But she does have business in this war, Master Suka-san." He told him simply. "Sakura's business in this war is to fight for your life and her honor." He looked completely at the old Shinobi master. "Like it or not, we need any willing soldier in this war. We're fighting against Orochimaru and his men. And we need as many fiesty fighters as we can get. Male or female. Sakura is a very fiesty youth. And I know that she can do this." He looked away up at the full moon with a soft smile. "And she may even change someone else's future."

* * *

The sun rose slowly into the air once morning came and Sakura was still sleeping in her tent. She wasn't even aware of where she was at the moment. She was just sleeping on the blankets and beddings she had been giving, dreaming of being home and practicing jutsu with her father. She was feeling very comfortable while sleeping.

That is until the tent began to shake violently, making quite the racket. "Come on, Zaku! It's sun up! Get your butt up!"

Sakura jerked awake before looking around until she realized that she was still in her tent and the blonde, Naruto was looking at her. She almost yelped in surprise and pulled the covers over her. But then she remembered she had not changed out of her outfit yet and didn't have to worry too much. "What? What is it?"

"Come on, you dolt! We have to be up and ready for training. But we're already late! I slept in too." Naruto said quickly.

Sakura's eyes snapped open wide before she quickly began gathering her things, while attempting to pull on her sandals and climb out of her tent at the same time. Naruto just waited until she was out of the tent and all ready before shoving a cup of ramen into her hands. "Here! Have some breakfast! Now let's go!" He shouted before bolting away. Sakura quickly ran after him while looking at the ramen in her hands. She wasn't too fond of ramen but she was too hungry to complain at the moment. She hadn't eaten the night before because they had to clean up the camp.  
"Thanks, Naruto." She said smiling. "For waking me up. I'd probably have slept in if you hadn't come woke me." She told him. Naruto just shook his head

Finally the found out where everyone else was at. Some of the other young men were rough housing, trying to get their blood flowing while others were just talking to one another.  
However, when Sakura hurried up with Naruto, a few men looked over at her and looking annoyed already that she had showed up. But neither one, Sakura nor Naruto paid them any attention as they walked over to a more open aprea.

"Oh. Look. It's the pink haired boy, Zaku. So you did decide to get up after all." Another young man remarked.

Sakura frowned at him but chose not to respond. She figured that would probably egg them on if they knew they were getting to her. So she just walked on with Naruto. That is until someone grabbed her shirt and yanked her back. She yelped in surprise before looking up at the annoyed looking Shikamaru. He was holding her by the front of her shirt with a fist raised. "I think I owe you some breakfast, troublesome Zaku. How about a knuckle sandwich?" He asked shaking his fist under her nose.

"Let me go." warned Sakura as she glared at him and tried to pull away. "Or should I show you what happens when you mess with me?"

Shikamaru just narrowed his eyes at her before he pulled his fist back, looking ready to swing. "This is so troublesome but I think I might just like taking you out, you pink haired weirdo." He said lazily before he started to swing.  
Before his fist could get even five inches away from Sakura's face, Naruto grabbed his arm and held tight to it. "Leave him, Shikamaru." He told him darkly. "He's only done to you what you deserved. Now let him go." He warned him. Shikamaru yanked his fist away and released Sakura while facing the blonde. The other young men all just sniggered as they surrounded the three. "What's your problem, blockhead? I thought you didn't like pinky here." One asked.

"Or did you have a change of heart for the fair man?" Another laughed.

Naruto shot that one a dark look, his fists balling up tightly. "Shut up, Kiba! I don't like Zaku but you gotta realize that we're in this together! If I didn't know any better we signed up on the same team. Zaku might have girly pink hair but he's like us. Trying to fight." He told him.  
Shikamaru just lazily put his hand onto his waist and shifted his weight. "Oh please. We don't need some pink haired troublesome freak on our side. We'd be the laughing stock in the entire Country." He said in a low voice. "He'd probably just make the enemies die while laughing at us."

Sakura glared at him for that remark but she did have a well thought comeback. "Well at least they'd die laughing at me rather than die smelling your foul-smelling breath. I'd almost feel bad for the enemy if you breathed on them." She staid and for once, a few young men laughed at her insult. She was surprised that they actually laughed but it did make her feel a little better.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, gave her an icy look. "Why, you ugly, little...!" He was growly with his fist raised again. Sakura quickly stepped back, a little hurt that he called her ugly but more angrly as well. She wasn't going to let this guy touch her and if he did, she'd pummel him right back. She was not afraid of him and she wasn't going to be. But to her surprise again, Naruto stepped forward in her defense, but so had another young man she remembered to be called Rock Lee.

"Enough!"

Everyone jumped when they heard that voice and Shikamaru immediately dropped his fist. They all turned to see the Shinobi Elites approaching them, lead by Hatake Kakashi. Some of the Elites were shaking their heads while the rest, along with the silver haired Commander, gave them dark looks as if daring them to start another fight. Kakashi walked straight up to Sakura, Naruto, Shikamaru and Rock Lee before stopping with his fist on his waist. He gave them all a very dark look as he looked them over, his one eye mostly glaring at Sakura. "Are we having a problem here?" He asked warningly.

Both Sakura and Shikamaru glared at one another before they shook their heads. "No, sir." They both said.

"Good." Kakashi said with a nod before he dropped his hand. "Line up and hustle about it!" He barked.  
Quickly, all of the young men and the young woman shuffled to make a long line, though Sakura and Shikamaru were still glaring at one another. They placed theirselves in line though without a word and soon everyone was standing up tall in front of the Elites. Once everyone was lined up, Kakashi gave a nod as he lazily looked them all over. He didn't look impressed with them at all but didn't say anything as he began to pace in front of the young recruits. After another long moment, he stopped all together and faced them with his hands stuffed into his pockets.  
"Now then," Kakashi began. "As I said yesterday, I am Hatake Kakashi and I am in charge of your training. So if I were you, I would put an end to fighting one another," He shot both Sakura and Shikamaru dark looks, who didn't look away from him. "And fight to earn my respect. I'm not a very easy person to get along with but you better get used to it. Because if I'm not impressed with you, the Hokage is not imperssed with you." He then motioned to the Elites standing behind him. "As for all of them, they are Elite Shinobi and they will be helping training you. They will probably be more lenient than I will, but they're not going to go easy on you either. The training you will be going through will be very hard. And as I said before," he looked directly at Sakura when he said this. "If you can't cut the training, you go home. And if there are any more problems, you will deal with me."

A young man close by to Sakura, the one called Kiba snorted as he rolled his eyes. He didn't even look like he believed the silver haired Shinobi at all. "Oooh boy. Looks like we have a tough guy on our hands." He muttered under his breath.

Unfortunately for him, Kakashi had heard that. He slowly turned his eye onto the young man with red markings on his face and glared. "You." He spoke nodding to him. "What's your name?"

All eyes turned onto the frozen young man now but after a few seconds he shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal and moved forward, his arms crossing his chest. "The name's Kiba, sir. Inuzuka Kiba." He said dully. And to Sakura's surprise, something started wriggling within his shirt. Actually it surprised everone but Kakashi as a fluffy head popped out from within the shirt and barked. "Oh. And this is Akamaru." Kiba said as if it wasn't a big deal the dog was there either.  
Kakashi narrowed his eye at Kiba before he shook his head and rolled that eye. He looked like he wasn't surprised that it was there at all. "Whatever. We'll talk about the dog later." Then he motioned Kiba to move forward, who obeyed. "Congradulations, Inuzuka. You just volunteered for our first lesson." He told him as he turned his back onto the young man. Kiba, like everyone, looked very interested into finding out what the first lesson would be. They looked almost excited.

Until Kakashi turned around as he was pulling out a kunai and it looked very much like he was about to throw it at Kiba.  
Kiba yelped in alarm, as did the puppy, stepping back with fear. Behind him, the recruits standing there gasped as they jumped away from him, not wanting to get hit by the kunai when it was flung at the young man and his dog.  
But instead of throwing it at Kiba, Kakashi threw it high into the air, where it hit a very high branch of a tree right above them. It stuck there, almost hilt deep. The very action, of course, surprised all of the recruits while the Elites folded their arms and rolled their eyes. One even muttered, "Here we go. This should be entertaining."

"Now, Inuzuka Kiba, retrieve the kunai and earn my respect." Kakashi spoke dryly as he folded his arms. It was clear that he was smirking under his mask by the look in his eye. He looked highly amused that he had scared the bold ninja recruit into thinking he was going to throw the kunai at him, only to make him look like an idiot for getting scared in the first place.  
Kiba, incidently, caught onto the little prank and glared at the Elite, dryly. But then with a shrug, he moved towards the base of the tree. "Fine, fine. I'll get your stupid kunai, Mr. Elite." He grumbled as he grabbed a hold of the trunk.

"Hold it." Kakashi spoke again now moving forward. "I believe you are forgetting two very important details of what makes a true Shinobi." He didn't even seemed peeved at the name Kiba had even called him, but looked amused. He motioned to another Elite, one called Umino Iruka who was holding a pair of weights in his hands. They were simply 10 lbs weights and weren't so heavy. What they were for, none of the recruits nor Sakura was sure but they knew they were about to find out. "This weight, gentlemen, represents Discipline." Kakashi spoke as he took one weight and held it up before taking the other. "And this one represents Determination." And then the silver haired ninja dropped them right into Kiba's hands. "You will need both of these to reach the kunai. Without them, you fail. So the objective is this, climb the tree with these weights in your hands. They must always be in your hands. You don't have them, you fail the test. You drop these weights, pick them up and try again." And he backed away to give Kiba some space. "Now, begin, Inuzuka."

Kiba frowned at the Elite with confusion but then he looked at the weights in his hands. He wasn't really sure what Kakashi wanted him to do. It wasn't going to be easy to climb a tree with something in his hands but he was not going to let some Elite Shinobi make a fool out of him again. But still...Kiba turned his eyes back onto Kakashi, almost glaring. "How in the hell do you expect me to climb a tree without my hands?" He demanded.  
Kakashi was smirking, everyone could tell that he was. "Use your feet then. There are ways of climbing a tree without your hands." He told him simply.

Frowning again, Kiba muttered a few choice words before putting the weights down on the ground and then unzipped his thick coat. Without another word, he pulled Akamaru out of his jacket and set him down on the ground. Then he tried to climb the tree.

Unfortunately, he slipped and fell flat onto his butt with a yelp.

And immediately, everyone started to laugh as the young man went bright red from embarrassment and rage before he tried it again. However, Sakura was not laughing. She was actually frowning with confusion as she stared up at the tree, trying to collect her thoughts. She wasn't even sure it was possible to climb a tree without hands. It just couldn't be done, could it? But apparently it could. Otherwise, Kakashi wouldn't have told Kiba to do it. He didn't seem the type to joke around at all.

After nearly the fiftith time of falling out of the tree and everyone laughed, Kakashi nodded to the other Elite Shinobi. And to every one of the new recruits' shock, the Elites all threw kunai up into the air until there were several of them stuck in branches. Two Elites put down a large box, which were filled with several 10 Lbs weights.

"The rest of you, get two weights each and join Inuzuka since you all want to laugh about it." Kakashi told them seriously. "For every single one of you, there is a kunai waiting up in the trees for you. Get those kunai, and you will have my respect. Until then, prepare yourselves. You are in for a very rough training." He gave a few young men a look for already grumbling as the recruits started forward to do what they were told. "The more you complain, the more harsher the training will be. Because you lot are boys. And I need men for this war with Orochimaru and his men. It's time to grow up and become a real man. Now, start climbing."

So one by one, the other recruits grabbed weights and stood in front their tree to start on the lesson. Sakura decided to take a little more time though by trying to figure out a stragedy of how to get up the tree with the weights in her hands. She wasn't exactly sure how she would do it, but she knew she had to try. She wanted that respect from Hatake Kakashi, and from every other person. She paused to watch a few of the others try to get up the tree but they came flying back down, landing hard in the grass. And when she noticed Kakashi giving her a cool look for taking her time, she began to try.  
Unfortunately, she did not fare any better than the real boys did. She slipped and fell every single time she tried to get up the tree, landing hard on her butt. She yelped every time but like everyone, she got back up and tried again.  
The Shinobi, recruits and Elites spent the entire day trying to get up the trees, and by the end of the day, every single boy, including Sakura, failed to get up the tree. It was a little disappointing to Sakura that she failed the first day, but she was at least a little relieved that she was not the only one who failed. She was more worried about how hard the training was going to be though. Exactly, how hard was the training going to be? She didn't know, but she knew she was going to find out very soon.


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters, though I wish I did.

* * *

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**Naruto-Heart of Honor FIVE**

The weeks slowly passed with each harsh day for Sakura, and every day, at the end of the day, she felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders and she was slowly slipping down to her knees on how heavy it was. The training she was going under was an understatement to what she believed. It was very harsh but she knew that it was for the best.  
As the day began each and every morning, Sakura woke up to the morning activities, sometimes a few of the other young men yanking up her stakes and letting the tent collapse on her or throwing icy cold water on her just for fun. But she did her best to keep her game face on. She didn't complain out loud when she joined the young men, even though a few of the Elites actually took care to asking her what had happened when she was soaking wet. Instead of telling them the truth, she just told them that she accidently knocked over her canteen full of water and it spilt all over her through the night. She hardly sold anyone out, even though she could easily have done so.

The training, itself, was not as easy as her father used to tell her about when he was in the army, serving the Shinobi Army. All of the new recruits began to learn multiple techniques of jutsu. The beginning lessons of the day were always Taijutsu. Hatake Kakashi and the other Elites began teaching them those first. Some of the lessons they had began teaching the recruits were a cinch to Sakura, for Suka had taught her quite a few moves.

Truth be told, she impressed a few of the Elites with what she already knew, but never Kakashi. He never showed any of the Elites his true emotions. He was always wearing a mask of emotionless. And wearing the mask to hide the bottom half of his face made things worst. No one could tell if he was smile, frowning or anything.

To the Sakura and the young men, Hatake Kakashi was just rock in their opinion. Cool and hard on everyone.

However, as Sakura went through each lesson with the men, she was always the butt of every joke. And it wasn't any easier when the men played practical jokes on her. During one of the Taijutsu lessons, while everyone was learning many varieties of kicks, one of the young men had snuck up behind her and put a poor mouse down the back of her shirt.

Unfortunately, Sakura was deathly scared of mice. She was like any other woman when it came to rodents like mice and rats.

So when she felt it wriggling around in her shirt, against her bandaged back, she could not stop herself from screaming as she began to thrash around to get it out. She knew it was probably stupid to scream but none of the other men seemed to even notice. The recruits just burst into laughter as they watched her. Even some of the Elites laughed her dance around, digging at her back to get the mouse out.  
The only ones not laughing was Kakashi, Naruto, Rock Lee and surprisingly, Hyuuga Neji. Instead, he was giving the young man responsible a silent scolding, telling him that it was the act of a child for putting a mouse down anyone's shirt.

But they weren't laughing anymore when Kakashi angrily moved forward to make her stop and she hit him right in the stomach while she was thrashing around. No one dared to laugh because of the dangerous look on the serious Shinobi's face. Sakura, like always, received the blunt end of the knife though. As soon as she managed to open the bottom of her shirt and let the mouse drop out, she was suddenly finding herself right in front of a very angry looking Kakashi. So the mouse was the least of her problems.

Kakashi just glared at Sakura before he grabbed a hold of her shirt and shoved her off to the side. "Run laps, Haruno, around the training grounds. Don't stop until I say so."

"Yes, sir." Sakura sighed as she began immediately. "I'm sorry for hitting you, sir."

It was actually a big surprise to Sakura though as she made her run around the training camp, when she discovered that Hyuuga Neji had scolded the young man who had stuffed the rodent down her shirt. He hadn't seemed the type who would do that. He was actually very quiet and stern like. She was also surprised that every time she passed by the young men while they were still working on their jutsu, Neji would look right at her, meeting her eyes with his strange pure white ones.  
In the beginning, when she had actually noticed his eyes, she had thought he was blind because he didn't seem to have pupils. But she slowly learned that he was not blind at all. He could see very well, more than well. When working on Taijutsu with other young men, he always caught the other's attacks before delivering his own. He also knew every time Naruto was making faces at him and he would glare at him.

It was still interesting to know why Neji seemed interested in Sakura. He was always looking at her, almost observing her every movement. So she tried most of her time to avoid his very eye sight or acted more and more like a guy each time. She did not want him to know that she was a girl.  
Sakura also found it funny when Lee-Maito Rock stood up for her once in a while. Especially when a few of the other guys called her ugly.

He would always say, "You're just jealous because he's better looking than you."

"Careful, Lee. You're making yourself gay, even though, everyone knows you are." A young man named Sai remarked. While everyone was sniggering, Rock glared at him but muttered under his breath, "Well it's true."

For days, Sakura got the same treatment every day and night. The young men played cruel jokes on her, causing her to do something that would always anger Kakashi and she would end up being punished. He didn't even seem aware that anyone was playing jokes on her, and if he did, he didn't do anything about it. It was then the Chuunin, Iruka remarked to her, "He knows they're doing it, Haruno. It's just he expects you to stand up for your own. You're old enough to stand up for yourself and not let anyone push you around, you know."

Sakura understood immediately and started standing up for her own self, though Naruto would help. They didn't do very well though. Sometimes the leers the other young men gave the pink haired 'boy' frightened her but she would keep a chin up and would leer right back. And sometimes the fight that would break out got too physical and Sakura would find herself with a black eye. But at least the other guy looked worst than she did. She proved to them to not underestimate them.

Of course, that never went well with the silver haired Shinobi commander, Kakashi.

Every single time she got into trouble, any one of the young men for that matter, they would be forced to run laps around the camp or do so many push ups that their arms burned with pain by the time Kakashi let them go. They all learned that he was very strict and he did not like rule breakers at all. During the time of training, only a few of the recruits had been kicked out of the camp and were forced to go home with a dishonor. So it was clear that Kakashi was not one to joke around with very often.

As the month slowly passed, Sakura was sure that she would never, ever get so many bruises, cuts, and scratches again in her life. The training was unbearable but she refused to break. Whenever she came close to just deciding to give up, she reminded herself of what happened with her father and she would try again. Unfortunately, every night when she went to bed, she was so sore and achy.  
Her new beginning friend with Naruto was starting to look up though. He wasn't so grumpy with her anymore and he eventually cracked rude jokes with her. Some of them she didn't laugh at, but she did find him amusing. And he was actually starting to consider her as a friend.

"You know you're going to fail, don't you?" the dead weight recruit, Sai remarked as everyone sat down for dinner one night. "You should go home because you're weak." And then he went over to a table full of smirking men. Sakura gave him a dark look as she watched him but glanced at Naruto when he shook his head. "Don't listen to Mr. Emo over there, Zaku! He's just jealous because you can kick higher than he can." He then made a face. "Actually, you have the highest kick any one of us do. I swear if I tried to kick as high as you, I'd bust my balls open."  
And Sakura blushed hot red at that crude remark but she did her best to hide it by dropping her chopsticks and getting under the table to pick them up again. "Ha, ha, ha. Whatever." She told him but she sounded so uneasy. But then she caught several eyes on her as she came back up, still slightly pink. Neji of course, as well as a few other young men.  
To her embarrassment, Hatake Kakashi was watching her too from the Jounin table. His dark eye was always on her nowadays. It was like he was trying to figure something out and it terrified her to think that he was figuring out her true identity. She was trying her best to not be so girlish and she even tried some of the things Master Minato hat told her to do. She spat on the ground, burped out loud, did things that she knew her mother would KILL her for doing. But the one thing she hated the most about how girlish she acted, it was every time she blushed.

It was worst on the hottest days, as the season grew later into early summer. The days grew too warm that the training was harder on the recruits. Sure, Sakura could handle the rainy days and the strong windy days but how she really despised the hot days.

The reason why?

Well, while she had to keep her shirt on and nearly die of heat, the men could take their shirts off. In her opinion, it was like heaven to a girl. There were so many men with such well defined chests and manly builds that could make a girl just drool. She almost did herself the very first hot day when everyone did.

Even Hatake Kakashi took off his shirt and he was not some gangly looking guy either.

Unlike the other men, he did keep on a tank top while he removed his vest and jacket but it was still tight enough to show Sakura exactly how well built the man was. And he had what looked like a rock solid chest. He was definitely a soldier, she could tell. His biceps were not extremely large like a few of the other Elites' were but he was still strong enough.  
However, there was one other thing. Kakashi never took off his mask. He always wore it, nor did he ever take off his forehead protector. He always had it pulled down over his left eye. So Sakura, nor any of the other men, ever got to see his full face.

At dinner time, Sakura could have sworn that he would take off the mask so he could eat, or at least eat his food from under the mask but he never did. He didn't really eat with the men. From what she heard from the others, he always ate in his tent, alone. Never with anyone else. Sakura wondered why he wore his mask. Could he be badly scarred from a fight or something? Could he have some kind of disfiguration?

There were silent bets going around through the recruits about what Kakashi really looked like. A lot of the young men kept saying that they were sure that he was a harelip, or he had scars all over his neck and face like the Shinobi, Ibiki did. So a large group of young men began to bet about what the Shinobi commander looked like.  
However, when one young man tried to find out late in the evening, he not only got kicked out of the training camp but he also got almost every inch of his life beaten out of him. Kakashi did come up with some really harsh punishments. What more to it, the young man failed to get a look at Kakashi's face.

Sakura was worried as the month started to pass into another month. The men were all treating her wrongly, most did anyway while a few left her alone. She was getting worried that someone would finally notice that she was not a boy. She knew that she was doing very well to pretending to be a boy, but it didn't exactly help her when she had her monthly PMS week. She did her best to try and keep her girlish habits at a limit. But she did notice that as she fought with herself, she was getting some raised eyebrows. Kakashi being one of them. She was wondering if anyone actually started to wonder if she wasn't a boy.

And eventually, in her horror, one of the men finally decided to confront her about it.

It had been almost in the middle of the second month of her training when one of the men confronted Sakura about her true identity. The day had started out as horrible as the others had and it had drizzled some on Shinobi. The training exercise the Elite Shinobi were making the recruits go through was a survival exercise. They were to run around in the Forest of Death, trying to find a certain point in the forest before the time limit was up.  
Sakura was by herself, which she preferred anyway as she made her way through the trees, trying very careful to not get caught by anyone. She had discovered that there weren't just the other young men she had to worry about, or the Elite Shinobi, who would attack them and spar with each young man they met, but it was the giant snakes living in the forest. She didn't like snakes anymore than she did with mice so she did her best to avoid any snake she came across. Unfortunately, she had a run in with only one. It was to her luck that she didn't have to fight it. She just ran away, not wanting to fight the gigantic creature.

And to her anguish, her bindings came loose.

Finding shelter in the roots of a giant tree, Sakura looked around to make sure that there was no one around. She even listened very hard for any sound at all. She could hear the other young men far off in the distance but they didn't sound too close. She made sure that she was completely out of view before she removed her shirt and looked down at her bindings.  
To her disgust, she found that the bindings were getting too ragged and dirty. The dirt and her sweat was starting to stain them and it really made her nose crinkle. She knew she needed new bindings. Maybe she could try and steal some out of the medical tent after everyone was asleep. But she needed new bindings. For now, the old ones would have to work. Sakura sighed as she began to unwrap the bindings, trying to adjust them.

"You need new bindings, you know? Those ones are too old and worn down." Someone said calmly from somewhere outside the roots.

Either way, Sakura yelped in surprise and fear as she nearly jumped high into the air, only to hit her head on the roof of the roots she was in. She had not heard anyone approach, much less seen anyone. But it wasn't just that had worried her.  
It was the fact that she was busted.  
Quickly, Sakura snatched up her shirt and pulled it back on while looking wildly around for whoever owned that voice. She half expected to a see a very angry Hatake Kakashi standing on a tree branch, looking ready to leap down and kill her for treason. It was either him or Rock Lee she was expecting. But it was neither one. It was actually someone she only half expected.

It was Hyuuga Neji.

Neji was actually sitting on a high tree branch, in plain view of Sakura but he wasn't looking at her at all. In fact, his eyes were closed while he had his arms folded nicely behind his head. It looked like he was asleep and Sakura would have sworn that he was if he hadn't spoken to her only moments ago.

"Ne-Neji?!" Sakura gasped, but then she shook her head as she tightened her shirt around her, swallowing hard. "Uh….h-hi! I didn't see you up there!"

The black haired ninja snorted before he lazily looked down at her, a light smirk on his face. "Obviously. Otherwise you wouldn't have been flashing off those bandages you're wearing." He told her as he shifted up into a more comfortable sitting position.  
Sakura painfully winced. So he had seen her bandages. But there was a possibility that he didn't know that she was a girl. So she decided to try and lie her way out of trouble. "Oh, ye-yeah. About these," She swallowed hard as she tried her best to keep up her Zaku voice. "I….uh, kind of hurt myself the other d-day. I fell onto a tree and cut myself! Nasty cut, if you ask me." She winced how pathetic she sounded but she hoped that Neji bought it.

"Please." Neji said rolling his eyes as he looked back up at the canopy above them. "I know who you are, Haruno girl. I know what you are." Sakura paled to completely white. "You obviously don't know a thing about my clan, do you? If you did know about my clan, you would know that we possess the Byakugan Eye." He then shifted his weight on the tree and slid himself down to the ground.

Sakura's throat was too dry and it hurt to swallow. "B-Byakugan…..eye?"

Neji looked directly into her eyes as he stalked towards her, his hand now digging into his hip pouch. "Yes. The Byakugan eye. The All Seeing Eye. I can see through objects with them. Through trees, buildings, whatever." He then let his eyes flicker over Sakura's body before looking back into her eyes. "I can see your girlish form. I know you're a girl."

It was a shock to even hear something like that, much less that last bit. Sakura was alarmed by every word and she couldn't' stop herself from over-reacting. It was an instinct to do it. She quickly wrapped her arm over her chest and she found her hand swinging at Neji, to slap him across the face.  
However, Neji seemed to have seen it coming.  
He took a quick step back and caught her hand with his before she could hit him. And when Sakura looked at him with wide eyes, he smirked smugly at her. "And I can see a person's muscles tense up when they're about to do something." He told her before he held up what was in his hand.

To be honest, Sakura had expected him to pull out a kunai to kill her, but he hadn't. Instead, he was holding up fresh bandages. "Wha-?!"

Neji shook his head as he placed the bandages into her hand before letting it go and stepping back. "Here. Use these. They should last for a while." He then turned away from her, as if he was going to let her have some privacy or keep watch.

"….How….how long have you known?" Sakura asked uneasily as she held the bandages in her hand, still not making a move to replace her old ones. She almost winced on how pathetic she sounded but she had to know. How long had Neji known? Did this explain why he was always looking at her?

Neji turned half way back, only glancing at her from the side of his eyes but then he shook his head and looked off into the trees, keeping watch for anything. "I've always known, since you even first stepped into the camp. Even with all the crude habits you've been using to fool everyone else. I could see that you were no boy. Plus, I am Hyuuga Hinata's cousin. She does tend to tell me about her friends now and then." He must have sensed Sakura's cringe because he turned fully back, seeing her blushing furiously and looking very afraid. "Relax. She doesn't tell anyone other than me. And I haven't told anyone that you're a girl. I don't think anyone else knows. And even if they did, they haven't said a word about it. Usually if anyone did know, they would have said something right about now."

Sakura still looked uneasy. "What about Rock? He seems to know?" She told him, in a low voice.

Neji snorted as he looked directly in her eyes. "He doesn't have a clue. He's always like that. His adopted father, Gai has taught him to never treat beautiful things wrongly. They're a bunch of 'beauty and youthful' loving fanatics." He explained before turning his back on her again. "Go ahead and put on the new bandages. I'll keep watch and I promise I won't look."

"Right. You can probably see through the back of your head." Sakura said dryly.

Neji rolled his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder at her then back towards the trees. "No. That's not how the Byakugan works. I have to be looking directly at something to see through it. Now, get those bandages on right now. We're running low on time to passing this training session."

Slowly, Sakura did so after moving back within the roots of the trees, trying to hide behind a large one. She was also keeping her eyes on Neji, eyeing him with suspicion. Exactly why was he helping her? Was he trying to trap her to reveal herself to the Elites? And why didn't he say anything about her being a girl and not a boy? "You…..you haven't told anyone about me, have you?" She saw him shake his head. "Why? I'm a…a girl in a men's only training camp. Doesn't…..doesn't that….annoy you?"

Again, Neji snorted as if he found it funny. He didn't turn around though, but kept his eyes looking towards the trees. "Not really. Should I be annoyed?"

Sakura shook her head as she removed her shirt and started wrapping the bandages around her chest, not wanting to remove the old ones just yet. She would do that later when she wasn't around Neji. "Well….yeah. It should annoy you. I'm a girl. Women don't have business in war, right? It's not allowed." She told him.

Neji only tilted his head slightly to the side as if he was going to look at her but when Sakura jumped in alarm, he straightened it again. "If you are here, dressed as a man and trying to act like one, then you must have business in this war. Allowed or not." He then turned around when Sakura did her shirt up again and she moved out from under the roots. "But question is, what is that business? I'm curious to know how a pink haired girl could be so brave to want to risk her life in the war. Surely you're not here just for a thrill. It all depends on what you're answer is if I help you or not."

Sakura looked at him with surprise when he said that. He wanted to help her? But why? "Why do you want to help me? I thought you hated me. The first day here, I made Shikamaru knock……"

Neji rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "Why, Haruno, do you think I shouted at Shikamaru for getting food on me and not you? I know you punched him and sent him flying all over the table, but it wasn't your fault. The procrastinated, good for nothing fool had it coming." He told her, earning a surprised look. "I heard what he said to you. The insult about your father. And he had no right to dishonor your father like that. Epsecially when it is Haruno Daisuka."

"You….So you do know my father's name?" Sakura asked looking troubled.

Neji shook his head as he shifted his weight to the other foot. "Who doesn't know Daisuka? He was once a guard of the Hokage, himself. He saved the life of the Hokage's son. He's famous that way. But no one doesn't know much about his clan, know about you. So like I said before, you're safe." He paused. "For now. So why are you here? Why are you pretending to be a man? Don't you have a brother or a male clan member?"

Slowly Sakura shook her head as a low sigh escaped her. "No. I have no brothers. My father is the only male in our clan, besides our hands. But even they are not apart of our clan." She told him before noticing the question on his face. She knew what he was about to ask next. "And the reason my father isn't coming to the Training Camp, himself is because He wasn't fit to fight. He has a limp in his leg and it would have killed him. I couldn't have let him come. He would have died. And I love my father so much." She sighed with much sadness. "That is why I became Haruno Zaku. To save his life and fight for my own honor."

There was a long silence as Neji stared at her, almost in a dull way. He didn't look impressed but then he smirked and turned away. "That'll do. I'll help you then and watch your back."

Sakura was surprised again but instead of asking for a better reason of why he wanted to help her, she just smiled. "Thank you, Neji. I could use all the help I could get. Especially with pretending how to be a boy." She told him. Neji only shrugged it off before starting to walk. "We better hurry. We have only ten minutes left before the time runs out." He told her.

"Well then, why don't we run through the tree tops." Sakura told him before she quickly hurried towards a tree and leapt up to the nearest branch. She looked like she was going to lose her balance and topple right off. But to Neji's surprise, she did not fall out of the tree at all but turned around to look at him…..as she was standing at an angle on the tree. An angle that she should be falling off but wasn't. "Well, you coming?"

Neji snorted as he looked up at and folded his arms. "You know how to control your chakra, don't you? You know how to channel it to your feet so he don't fall off the tree branch." He guessed.

"Well, yeah. My dad is Daisuka after all. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean he hasn't taught me anything." Sakura said smiling innocently. "It's actually really easy if you know how to control your chakra." She told him. Neji just smirked and shook his head before he was quickly up the tree and they were running along the tree branches as fast as they could.

To Sakura's greatest pleasure, she and Neji made it right on time before the time was up.

The other young men couldn't believe it though. Haruno Zaku was standing beside Neji as if they were friends. They were even talking quietly to each other and when one of the young men decided to make a crack at Zaku, he suddenly found Neji giving him a very dry stare. "Now listen up, you idiot. You mess with him, you mess with me from now on." He warned him darkly. Zaku is a better man than you are. And he surely better at ninjutsu than you are as well." He scolded him before walking with Sakura to stand off with Naruto.

After that little blow up, none of the young men decided to taunt her again. They only watched as Sakura, Neji and Naruto stood together, looking around as they waited for the last men showed up.

Even Kakashi was watched her as she stood with the other three, soon to be four when Sasuke decided to move over to stand next to Neji. He seemed at least a little impressed that 'Zaku' had actually made it on time before he turned and lectured those who were late, making them run laps when they returned to the camp. At least things were starting to change only a little.


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters, though I wish I did.**

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews, everyone. I'm glad you're all enjoying the story. It makes me happy that I'm getting so many good reviews. Also, there was somone asking about who Sakura is being paired up with and to be honest, there is a pairing. I just won't reveal it right now. You might find out in the next chapter, but for now, everyone is just being friends. But there has been a few hints now and then about who she's going to be paired with. All you have to do to figure out who it is is watch for the clues. **

**Anyway, in this chapter, Sakura gets into a little bit of trouble with Kakashi, but knowing our favorite cherry blossom, she's not one who gives up so easily and she will do anything to prove herself.

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**Naruto-Heart of Honor Six**

With the new alliance with Hyuuga Neji, Sakura wasn't picked on as much as she was used to. No one seemed to dare pick on her while she was around him. Whenever they did, Neji or Naruto would immediately stand up for her. And eventually, Sasuke started to speak up. Not too long after the survival exercise, Sasuke had decided to ask Neji why he was hanging around 'Zaku'.  
So the prodigy of the Hyuuga clan told him, "Zaku's not that bad. Yes, his hair is strange but he's really not bad with jutsu. And out of everyone here, besides the Elites, I think he has more control over his chakra than he lets on about."  
He was telling half the truth but he did not once tell anyone that Sakura was actually a girl. He kept that to himself and her. He would also smuggle a few things that she needed from any of the supply tents, pretending that he needed them himself. It was a nice change for once that someone knew her secret but chose to help her instead.

But still, quite a few of the young men picked on her, even if they ended up facing Neji later. They kept taunting her, saying that she needed someone to stick up for her when she couldn't do it herself. And it was really starting to get on her nerves. She did try her best to stick up for herself, but it didn't seem to help very much.

But as the days of training went, Sakura realized that she was not showing very much progress and it was starting to annoy Kakashi. She remained the weakest one in the bunch. True, she was practically the smartest out of the recruits but for some reason, she couldn't keep up with the males. No matter how hard she tried. She wasn't as strong as them and she wasn't as good as jutsu as she hoped. She was always the last one to get it right. No matter how hard she tried.

And soon, she knew, she would have to do everything she could to show that she was a Shinobi before she was sent home.

The day things really went wrong for Sakura was a very rainy day. The recruits were jogging through the Forest of Death while there was a light rain falling down on them. They were carrying two pails on a stick which were slowly filling up with water as it rained. It didn't' really help with the trail getting a little muddy and slippery under Sakura's feet but she was doing her best to stay standing up. However, the buckets were getting heavier for her and she was starting to slow down.

"Come on, Zaku. You can do it." Naruto urged her as he slowed down with Neji, Sasuke and Rock.

Sakura did her best to keep up with them, though she did notice the Elites looking over their shoulders at her. Some of them were tsking and shaking their head while few others were trying to give her an encouraging look. Kakashi was not one of them. He was actually giving her a dry look as he kept a well pace ahead of everyone.

Then her luck rock bottom.

As Sakura was trying to climb over a small log, her foot caught the top of it and she tripped over it. She went down hard into the mud, sending her buckets full of water everywhere. She gasped in pain though as her air had been knocked out of her lungs from the impact. She laid there for moment before she noticed that her four companions had stopped to wait for her. "Come on, Zaku. Get up!" Naruto told her with worry. Sakura gasped for breath but it was hard. She pushed herself up to her knees, pushing water out of her eyes. "Just a second. I've got to catch my breath." She told them. And then she noticed Kakashi approach her.

"In battle, you don't have a second to catch your breath." Kakashi said dryly as he held his stick and buckets on his shoulders. "In battle, you must always be on your guard and you must always move. Even for that one second, you can die." He then turned his one revealed eye onto the four boys. "Keep moving. You don't have time to wait for a comrade who can not keep up." He told them. Sasuke immediately was moving away while the other three glanced at Sakura, who nodded as she gasped for breath and reached for her stick again. So they went.

However, before she could grab her stick, Kakashi moved forward and picked it up with the buckets. She gave him an alarmed look but he gave her a dry stare. "As I said, we don't have time to wait for stragglers. Haruno, go back to camp. I'll deal with you later when we get back." He told her before he turned and hurried after the others.  
Sakura watched him with disappointment before she sighed and lowered her head. She knew that she was blowing her chance to impress the commander, to prove herself worthy. She knew for a fact that the Shinobi Elite commander, Hatake Kakashi was not impressed with her at all.

But with a sigh, she went back to camp.

That night, after everyone had returned from the hike and had eaten, Sakura couldn't help but stare into one of the fires that had been build while everyone was talking to one another. Naruto and Neji tried to sit down with her to start up a conversation but she wasn't in the mood to speak right now. So she excused herself to go to bed early.

But when she got to her tent, it was no longer there.

Kakashi was standing by the tree where she had pitched her tent several weeks before, when she joined the army. He was just standing there with his arms folded while at his feet were her bags. It looked like she was going to be going on a trip. But seeing her bags and her tent, she had a feeling that it was just a trip she was going to be going on. She knew it was the sign of trouble. Sakura knew that she was in trouble. And a lot of it. The look on the Elite's face didn't look very nice either. He didn't look happy at all. But then again, when did he ever?

As Sakura approached, Kakashi slowly shook his head until she was right in front of him looking at him in worry. "Haruno Zaku," He began as he straightened up and let his arms fall at his sides. "Here are all of your things. You can keep the tent. But you are done with the training. You're to go home." He told her as he went around her and started to walk away.

"What?!" Sakura gasped as she whirled around and stared at him. "But…..I'm….I'm still working hard. I…."

Kakashi slowed his pace to a stop then looked over his shoulder without turning around. "You can't cut it, Haruno. You're weak and you can take the training. It's getting way hard for you and you're way too behind. I'm sorry but this Shinobi army can't afford any weak links. We have to stay strong. So go home. You're through here." He said before he started walking again.  
"No, I am not!" Sakura shouted after him as she hurried after him. "I am not going home until this war is over! Until the Fire Country is safe from Orochimaru! I am staying here to finish my training!" She told him sternly. She also ignored the fact that Kakashi halted in his foot steps before he turned around gave her a very unpleasant look.

However, Sakura's shout did not go un-noticed by the other young men. As soon as she had started yelling, a few came looking to see what was going on and soon enough, almost everyone in the camp were standing around the two glaring at one another. Sakura was looking as brave and serious as she could muster while Kakashi was beating her in a glaring contest. His glares were intense but she refused to break. She had promised Namikaze Minato that she wouldn't break. Even the Elites were there, looking at the pink haired 'boy' with alarm that she had actually shouted at Hatake Kakashi.

"No?" The silver white haired Shinobi asked coolly. He then moved towards Sakura only to stop ten feet away from her. "You dare to tell me no? You are not even a Shinobi, Haruno and you never will be. While I, on the other hand, am a ANBU. When I say you're finished with the army, they are finished. You are no longer a recruit here and I am sending you home." He told her seriously. "You are a hopeless cause. To continue your training now, it's just a waste of time and money."

Sakra just shook her head as she clenched her fists and glared at him. She was looking rather brave, even though inside, the Inner Sakura was nearly melted with fear. "I am not a hopeless cause. And it's not a waste of time training me. I am my father's…..son." She almost said daughter but she had stopped herself in time. "I will be the very best Shinobi in Fire. I promise." She told him.

"You, Haruno," Kakashi said coolly. "Are the worst Shinobi in Fire Country. In fact, you're not even close to being Shinobi. You are a joke."

Sakura felt the sting of his words but she wasn't going to let them get to her. She couldn't. She had to make sure her father would live and still have honor. She was doing it for him. She could not go home. "I can't go home and face my father, Hatake-sama. I will do my best to catch up." She told him. Kakashi slowly shook his head as he stared dryly at her. "Your best is not good enough. Since you've even gotten here, you haven't improved on your jutsu at all. You can't even climb a tree right." He said darkly. "I've given you too many breaks already because of your father. But no more. I don't have time for some girly boy who can't be turned into a real man." And as he spoke, his voice was raising. "Go home. You've dishonored yourself enough." The Shinobi said before turning away again. Sakura slowly shook her head, her lip trembling a little. She was not going to give up so easily. She knew it wasn't smart to get in an argument with Kakashi but she completely refused to go home. She wouldn't. "I said I am not going home until this war is over. I want to fight as a Shinobi. I want a chance to prove myself!" She said with determination.

Again, Kakashi turned to face her, his eyes were very dark. It was very clear that he was losing his patience with her. But then he shook his head and gave her a dry look. "Don't make me have to force you out, Haruno. You are not capable to fight in this war."

"Yes, I am." Sakura said as fiercely as she could.

There was a dangerous silence between the two as they glared at one another. Everyone was looked at Sakura with wide eyes before glancing at Kakashi. They were very sure that he was going to kill the pink haired 'boy' for even back talking him. As for the Elites, Iruka was making his way over to intercept Sakura and escort her out of the Shinobi training camp before she got herself killed. But to his, and everyone's surprise, Kakashi held up a hand to stop him.

"You want to prove yourself, Haruno," The Copy Nin said quietly, but it was a dangerous quiet tone he was using. "Fine. Let's see if you have what it takes. Fight me now. If you can at least knock me off my feet at least once, you can stay. But if you can't, you will leave." He told her.

Sakura looked as if someone had just slapped her across the face with a fish. She stepped back away from Kakashi, looking almost terrified. "I….I can't fight you! You're an Elite! You…you'd beat me in no time!" She argued. She knew it was true. She knew that Kakashi would have her down in no time flat. But with a shrug, Kakashi turned away. "Fine then. Leave the Training camp." He started to take a step to leave.

"I said no!" Sakura said sternly.

Suddenly, she found herself shoved against the tree with a very strong arm pinning her there. A kunai was stabbed into the tree close to her head but it wasn't that had her frightened. It was Kakashi who had her pinned there, one hand on the kunai's hilt while his forehead had finally been shoved up to reveal the left side of his face. To her shock, the Elite had a long scar running over a fiery red eye with black swirls slowly revolving around the pupil.

"Do not ever tell me no." Kakashi said in a dangerous low voice. "You are not ready to fight Orochimaru, nor will you ever be. When I was your age, I was exactly like you. Stubborn and pig-headed. I wasn't ready to fight enemies but I tried anyway. I got this scar because I wasn't ready. I lost my left eye to my enemy and then I lost my best friend for trying to help me." He said darkly, glaring into Sakura's emerald green eyes.  
"My best friend, Uchiha Obito gave me his eye before he died. But he was still killed on my behalf. Just because I wasn't ready to fight and I wouldn't listen to an Elite!" He shook his head as he finally backed away from Sakura, yanking the kunai out of the tree. "You want to prove yourself? Fine! Earn my respect before the night is through! If you can't do that, you go home!" He turned away, but kept his fiery red eye on her. "If you fail to earn my respect before the night is through and you so much as try to stay here in the camp, I will do what I have to do to make you leave. Even if it means executing you. I will not let anyone weak slow down this army. We have a war to win and thousands of people to protect from the biggest threat in history!" He snapped before he walked away. But not before he shouted, "Go to bed, men! We get up at the crack of dawn for more training!"

Stunned and hurt by his words, Sakura just leaned against the tree, staring at the empty space before her with shock. She couldn't believe what just happened. She didn't even see him move. More than less, she saw what was behind the forehead protector. She was pretty sure that no one else saw it because they were farther away and it was too dark. She barely even saw it because of the night's darkness. The only way she saw it was because he was so close to her. His nose had nearly touched hers while he was glaring at her.

But still, the fact that she knew it was impossible to earn his respect before the night was over. That man didn't seem to respect anyone other than his superiors or his equals. She didn't blame him though. The men that he was training were only boys and some of them were foolish.

Still, how in the hell was she going to earn Hatake Kakashi's respect before the night was over?

She must have stood there for a good long moment with tears in her eyes before she realized that she was kneeling on the ground, staring down at her father's kunai. She couldn't leave now. She could almost see the images of her father on the ground in the onyx colored blade. She sighed as she tried to think of a way to get Kakashi's respect.

What was it that Master Minato told her to do?

Sakura then remembered. He had told her that Kakashi was the strictest Shinobi there was in the Shinobi army but he respected hard workers. And there was also that one thing Kakashi said on the very first day of training. _"Retrieve the kunai and earn my respect." _

"The kunai?" The pink haired girl said before she turned her emerald green eyes onto the tall trees with the kunai still in the branches. None of the young men had been able to get the kunai yet. No one had been able to get up the tree. Surely if she managed to get up the tree and retrieve the kunai, she would have to have Kakashi's respect. She had no choice. She knew this was the only way.

Sakura's mouth firmly closed before she clenched her fists, making her way over to one of the trees. She knew this was the only way of getting the respect she deserved. She had to get up in the tree and get the kunai. She found the 10 lbs weights at the base of the tree. Without a word, she picked them up and began trying to climb the tree.  
Unfortunately, she kept falling back down, landing hard on her butt. But every time she fell, she would get back up and try again. She spent hours trying to get up the tree and falling back down. She knew she must have had dark bruises on her backside from falling so hard every time. But she refused to give up. This was for her father, and this was for herself. She needed the respect from Kakashi. She wanted it. She didn't want to let anyone know that she was just some weak-ass Shinobi recruit but let them know that she was the most stubborn, determined to succeed Shinobi in the entire Fire Country.

But after hours of failing, she had to stop to catch her breath. She had to think of how she was going to do this. She had fallen over fifty times and she knew she was incredibly bruised. She could feel it. Sakura sighed as she just sat there at the base, trying to think. She knew she had to come up with some idea of how to get up the tree. She couldn't just keep trying and trying only to fail. She knew it was somewhere after midnight. She could feel it by how tired she was. But she refused to let herself go to sleep. If she did, the morning would come too quickly and she would be forced to leave the training camp. She also couldn't just sit there either.

_"How in the hell do you expect me to climb a tree without my hands?" _Kiba had asked that day. And all Kakashi was just smirk at him. _"Use your feet then. There are ways of climbing a tree without your hands." _

Sakura's eyes brightened when she remembered those words. She knew how to get up in the tree now. All she had to do was concentrate on her chakra to her feet. She had done it before. When Neji had found out about her, she had showed him that she could stand on a tree branch without falling off.

"It's my only hope."

Sakura took a deep breath as she stood up and moved a few steps back away from the tree. She tried to concentrate hard on her chakra, pushing it towards her feet. She even closed her eyes to concentrate better. She could feel her chakra slowly rolling around in her body, moving towards her feet until they tingled. She was ready.

With her eyes flashing open and her hands tightly clenching the weights in her hands, Sakura flew towards the tree as fast as she could. She wasn't going to fail this. She was going to succeed. She was going to get that kunai no matter what it took. If it took her all night to do it, she would do it. All of the taunts and teasing she had been through the many days were in her head. She was not going to let them get to her. She was not going to let her father, Daisuka fall down again because she was not going to fall. Sakura gritted her teeth as she placed her feet against the tree trunk, getting ready to run up it. She almost fell but quickly she concentrated her chakra between the tree and her feet, trying to latch on.

She did not fall down this time.

Sakura was somewhat surprised by that and would have fallen if she didn't quickly catch her chakra and the tree. She was standing sideward on the tree trunk now. It was working. She couldn't believe it was actually working. But without any time to spare, she began to walk up the tree, though slowly so she couldn't lose her concentration. She didn't have time to spare any excitement at all. She would save it for later once she got the kunai. A few times while trying to walk up the tree trunk, Sakura slipped a few times, sliding down the tree but she quickly caught herself and kept going up. She was not going to fail this.

Without her awareness, two of the Elites, Iruka and Gai were watching her from their tents, looking very surprised that 'Zaku' was actually doing it. They were both thinking the same thing though. This pink haired 'boy' might actually just get the respect he was demanding for.

It took almost all night trying to get even half way up the tree but Sakura kept moving, even if it was going very slow. She just locked her jaw tight as she took each shaky step up, going straight up. She had tears flowing down her face, mixing with sweat as she kept moving upward. Both of her arms and legs were burning with pain as she strained herself but she wouldn't let go. She would have what she wanted.

Hours of walking up the tree past, making her more and more exhausted but with all of the memories of being taunted, teased and bullied, she pushed onward.  
The sun was barely coming up now and she was almost to the branch with the kunai. She was very unaware of the growing crowd of young men looking up at her now, all looking very astonished of what she was doing. She was unaware of all of the bullying young men were staring up at her with wide eyes before joining Naruto into cheering her own. She didn't even hear them, even if they were yelling up at her, a few jerks trying to break her concentration. All she could hear was her heart pounding and all of the memories whizzing past her eyes as she stared directly at the kunai she was trying to reach for.  
Joining the young recruits, the Elites were staring up with the same amazement. They didn't say anything but watched as the Haruno 'boy' was walking straight up the side of the tree trunk. And soon to join them was Hatake Kakashi, his one eye trained on Sakura with only mild surprise but more interest.

However, with only a few feet away, Sakura's strength was starting to give out. She could feel her entire body burning from the overuse of chakra. Her feet was even burning from too much chakra. She slid down a fraction, almost a foot away causing her to gasp. But she clutched at the tree tightly with her chakra. She was getting way too tired and she was losing her strength quickly from climbing the tree all night long.

"No!" Sakura gasped between her teeth. "I am not giving up!" She took a painful step up the tree, moving closer to the kunai. "I am not weak!" She took another step. "I am not naïve! And if I am naïve, I am naïve to finish what I've started!" She shouted as she took another step. Sakura was very close to the kunai now. She could almost reach out and take it now. But to do that, she needed a hand, so she rearranged the weights into one hand and reached for the blade. Yet, she still couldn't reach it. Her fingers were barely touching the hilt.

"I will not fail Master Minato!" The pink haired girl cried out as she tried to take another step, almost losing control. Her fingers were still grazing the blade but it still wasn't close enough.  
"……! I will…..!" She shouted as she tried to push herself up, almost bending over on the tree. "…..Never! Give….!" She then threw her arm up and around the branch the kunai was stuck in. just as her strength gave up. Her chakra was gone now and she would have fell if she wasn't holding onto the branch now. She just held on tight, trying to throw her other arm with the weights around the branch. "UP!" She screamed as she swung her legs upward and onto the branch. Sakura wrapped knees around the tree and she laid there for a very long moment, gasping for breath and out of exhaustion.

"I will….gasp…..never give up….."

After moments of laying there on the branch, she opened her eyes and looked at the kunai just inches away from her hands. It was right there. She took a deep breath as she used one hand to pin the weights against the branch and used the other hand to reach over and wrap around the hilt, yanking it right out of the branch.

And as it came loose, there was a sudden explosion of smoke in her hand and the kunai vanished. To her surprise, she saw what the kunai really was.

A forehead protector; the symbol of the leaf was engraved in the brand new, shining metal.

Sakura stared at it with wide eyes until she finally heard the cheers. She turned her eyes downward and saw the entire camp staring up at her. More than half of the young men were cheering and yelling out her name, Zaku's name. Naruto was jumping up and down, throwing his arms above his head and yelling her name. Beside him, Neji had his arms folded across his chest and she could almost see the smirk of satisfaction on his face as he stared up at her. Even the young men who bullied her were cheering for her. But her eyes slowly slid over the Shinobi Elites, stopping them on the silver white haired Kakashi, who was still staring up at her. Again to her surprise, he vanished into a puff of smoke and leaves before appearing right before her, on the branch. He had used his teleportation technique to get up onto the branch, in front of her.

Suddenly, it got very quiet.

Sakura just frowned as she laid on the branch, clutching the weights and the forehead protector in both hands. She just looked up Kakashi fiercely before she tried to sit up, almost slipping. She gasped as she almost fell off the branch and she was sure she heard the young men below yelp with her in shock.

But a hand slapped onto her shoulder to steady her.

Again, Sakura looked up to see Kakashi bent down beside her, his hand on her shoulder to keep her from falling out of the tree. She frowned as she looked into his eye before shaking her head. "I….I will never give up." She told him in a quiet voice, but with determination.

And for the first time since she came to the training camp, Kakashi looked at her softly. He didn't even look like he was concentrating hard to keep himself steady on the branch. He had such good balance on it when Sakura was having trouble. Without a word, the Elite reached down and took the forehead protector from her, holding it up.

"……A true Shinobi never does." Kakashi spoke quietly before he tied the forehead protector around Sakura's head.

Sakura's eyes lit up in surprise as she looked at him from under the forehead protector, noting the soft look in his eye. And she knew that she had succeeded with what she tried to do. She had actually gained respect from the strict Shinobi, Hatake Kakashi. She could see it in his eye. He respected her.

And soon after that, so did everyone else.

After her braveefforts of determination, no one ever treated her wrongly ever again. No one dared to now that she had the respect of the Commanding Shinobi. She had been the first of the recruits to become a Shinobi. So instead of taunting her, they began asking her how she could control their chakra and climb the trees like she did. Soon after that, they were able to walk up the trees and get their kunai, which turned out to be forehead protectors. All of them were.  
After that day, they began to work hard and train harder together. Sakura became a little more popular among the men because of her amazing control over chakra. She was still not as strong as the men but she was the strongest when it came to chakra uses. She began to learn new techniques, dealing with Genjutsu and Ninjutsu. She was even learning Taijutsu from Kakashi, himself. He had finally decided to split up most of the young men, placing them under one of the Elites. The teams mostly consisted of three men cells and were lead by an Elite.

Sakura, Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke were on the same team, learning from Kakashi.

Though they were learning from their Elite captain, they also learned a few new techniques from the other Elites. And soon enough, it was almost time for Uzumaki-Namikaze Minato's six month check up, to see if they were fine Shinobi. Sakura couldn't wait to show the Shinobi General of what she had learned.


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters, though I wish I did.**

**A/N: Hey, Everyone! Thanks for the reviews and sorry for taking a little while in updating. It's been crazy over here. **

**Anyway, in this chapter, you get a sneak peek at the bad guys and Sakura finally learns a little about the guys. Not to mention, she gets a really big embarrassing moment, even though in real life, some of us girls would be drooling over the guys in their...um, the state she gets to see them in. Lol. Anyway, R and R please.

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**Naruto-Heart of Honor Seven**

Far away from the Shinobi camp, just on the mountain borders of the Fire Country, a tall, thin man stood on the top of a tree, looking out towards the valley. His snake-like eyes were gazing towards the Konoha Village, looking almost greedy. He was rather thin and had a long face like a snakes. Everything about this man screamed out snake. And falling down his back was long black hair, with long bangs hanging over his yellow-green eyes.

This was Lord Orochimaru, of the Secret Sound.

Orochimaru was not an attractive man, but he wasn't hideous either. There was something good looking about him, no matter how pale he was. It was probably his gracefulness that he possessed or the way he moved. He walked as if he was slithering across the grass and hissed when he talked. But it was how graceful and swift he truly was that people needed to worry about. He was like a viper striking out at enemies.

"Lord Orochimaru," Someone spoke from behind him.

The snake man didn't look at the one who approached him but he did tilt his head towards his man. A cold smirk slowly curled on his face as he kept his eyes on the far way Konoha Village. "What is it….." He finally turned his eyes onto the man who had dared to approach him. "….Itachi?"

**(ooc: I know! He's not really with Ochimaru but I couldn't write this fanfiction without him!)**

Uchiha Itachi, the traitor of Fire Country and the Uchiha Clan moved forward and bowed down to the snake lord, holding his balance very well on the tree branch. "Master, the men are ready to move. They are getting anxious on moving into the Fire Country." He spoke in a low voice. "We know you wanted to wait a year before we attacked, but the men are getting bored. They would like to move towards one of the small villages." He lifted his head only a fraction to look up at the dangerous ninja. "With your permission, of course. They won't move unless you say so."

Orochimaru was quiet for a long time as he just stared at the large valley. But after a moment, he slowly nodded and then rose his left arm, looking at a tattoo there. "Very well." He reached up and bit his thumb till it began to bleed and then touched the tattoo, the summoning seal there.

There was a loud rumble from under the tree before an enormous snake slithered right out of the trees and slowly lifted towards the two, making them look at the giant snake. Orochimaru looked into the snake's eyes before he turned towards Itachi, giving him a nod. "Inform the men we will move out towards the nearest village and give the All mighty Hokage of Fire a warning that he is running out of time."

"And what if there are Shinobi patrolling the nearest village? I have scouts that told me that there are Shinobi camped in the village to the east of us." Itachi told him quietly as he stood up.

Orochimaru only smirked as he gently ran his hand along the cold scales of his giant snake. He didn't seem bothered by that bit of news at all. "Oh, don't worry, Itachi." He said, soothingly. "I know there are Shinobi there. Along with a pesky General. We must give our dear Hokage the warning. And to do that, we shall kill his strongest Shinobi." He turned his eyes back onto the snake. "The Konoha's Golden Flash will be put out once and for all."

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Sakura knew it was very risky of going there, especially right now but she really needed to do it. She knew that she would have easily gotten caught if she wasn't careful. And she knew that she should have waited till Neji was done training with the Elite, Gai, and his team. But she really could not stand it anymore. She was tired of the smell of sweat and dirt. She really, really needed a bath.

For the past several months, Sakura had been taking the risks of trying to bathe in the closest river, and the most secluded one near the camp. She had tried to go three times a week for the past five months now, but it got really risky. Only a few times, she nearly had gotten caught. So it was later on, she decided to start asking Neji if he could keep watch for her, while NOT watching her. He agreed to do it, though he was pretty peeved to think that she would think so low of him of him spying. He was a noble from a very important and honorable family and he would never stoop to that level.

No matter how tempting it was.

It got pretty bad during the monthly PMS week and had to try and get washed up as many times as she could but it wasn't always easy getting to do it. But it was to her luck that she hadn't been caught, yet.

So the first chance she got, while everyone was supposedly at the mesh tent getting something to eat, she had snuck off to the river to get washed up. Tonight's training had been pretty extreme so she really needed a bath tonight. If she didn't do it, she'd probably go insane with the sweaty smell. The river she went to bathe in was in a secluded area and was pretty smooth there. It was a nice little spot to bathe and it was well away from any prying eyes, even though the camp was only a half a mile away.

Sakura smiled as she looked around the area before she set down her change of spare clothing and bandages before she pulled off her forehead protector then her sandals and sent them by the clean pile of clothes. Then she began to peel off her clothes while stepping into the river. She needed to wash her clothes too. She only wished she had brought some soap to make them completely clean but she hadn't so just a simple water wash would have to do.

**"You know, this isn't a good idea."**Inner Sakura mumbled to her.

Sakura just shrugged as if someone had spoken to her as she wetted her old clothes and did her best to cleaning them. At the moment, she didn't care of what her inner personality said as she wringed her clothes under the water, over and over until she was a little satisfied. After that was done, she moved over to the shore as she folded the sopping wet clothes and put them on a clean rock near the water and her fresh clothes.

Then the pink haired girl went to bathing herself, running her hands along her body to try and rub off any sweat or dirt until she was pretty clean again. Then she began to run her fingers through her hair. It was getting long again and she knew that she would need to cut it pretty soon. "Might as well do it now." She said to herself before she climbed out of the water and got into her kunai pouch for her father's kunai. For the next ten minutes, she just sat in the water while cutting her pink hair short to below her ears.

As she cut her hair, she let her mind drift to her family. She was wondering how they were doing without her. She was pretty sure that they were all right. Her father must have been worried sick about her, but at least he hadn't come after her. It would have blew her cover if he had.

Then, Sakura began to think about the visit with the Matchmaker. She did still have the matches on her mind and it made her worry to think that she might be matched up with someone she did not want at all. She wondered who she would have been matched up with. Before, she had hoped that she would be matched up with Uchiha Sasuke, but now that she was actually getting to know him, she wasn't so sure. When she did talk to him, as Zaku of course, it was like talking to a wall. Ever since she had became a Shinobi, she had been trying to get to know him, trying to find out what kind of a guy he was. It was true, he was one of the best looking young men in the entire camp.

Scratch that! She thought.  
He WAS the best looking man in the camp. Of course, she also found her commander a little attractive too, even though she wasn't even sure what Kakashi even looked like. He always wore his mask and never revealed his face. But he was still kind of strict.

Sakura shook her head vigorously not wanting to think about Kakashi right now. She wanted to think about Sasuke. She thought about how much she knew about him already and she realized that she didn't know much. He was awfully quiet and he did not like talking about himself. He was almost like the Shinobi recruit, Sai. Both of them hardly talked unless it was about war or fighting and stuff like that. Of course, there was a few times Sasuke had talked about how he wanted to kill someone. She had learned from Neji that it was Sasuke's older brother that he wanted to murder. Uchiha Itachi, as Sakura had understood it, had been exiled and turned traitor after he murdered five of his own family members, including his uncle, who had been very good friends with his brother, Sasuke's father. And to make matters worst, Itachi had become an assassin and had murdered a Noble from a clan that Sakura didn't even know. So it was no wonder why Sasuke was so angry with his brother. His brother was a traitor and a murderer. And he had turned his back on his own village. It was definitely a family crisis sort of thing. Something Sakura was going through at the moment, even though it wasn't as serious as Sasuke's. But still, she wanted to know about him. To find out if she truly wanted to be matched up with him or not. The thing was, the way things were going, she was already having second thoughts about being matched with him.

Suddenly, her heart gave a jolt when she heard shouts and laughter coming her way, towards HER river spot. And they sounded pretty close to. She recognized most of those voices as some of the new Shinobi. She was pretty sure she heard Naruto's loud, obnoxious voice with the rest of the voices.

And they were coming her direction.

Sakura gasped and squeaked as she quickly began scampering out of the water, splashing loudly as she went. She didn't meant to be so noisy but she did not want to get caught being naked, by the guys!

Quickly, she was out of the water, snatching her clothes and bandage rolls up as she dashed into the bushes. She was cursing under breath as she quickly was trying to wrap the bandages around her chest as fast as she could while trying to pull her clothes on at the same time.

Even worst; she looked up when she saw the young men rush into the clearing and jumped in to where river. Butt naked.

Sakura's face flushed hot red when saw a few bare bottoms she did not want to see before she quickly lowered her head so that she couldn't see them anymore. She knew she had to get out of here and fast. She did not want to be there when they finally realized that she, as Zaku, had been there only moments before.

However, some of the young men seemed to have noticed the sopping wet clothes she accidently left on the rocks and decided to take a look around, questionably. While Kiba only had to sniff the air. His yellow eyes turned towards the bushes Sakura was in and he spotted her pink hair.

"Hey! Look, it's Zaku!" The dog like man said smirking.

Sakura's eyes widened as she pulled on her shirt and quickly began doing it up. She quickly adjusted it so it was completely closed before she stood up and placed her forehead back around her forehead. "Oh! Hey there, guys!" She said cheerfully as she could, waving at them. She caught sight of Neji standing near the edge of the clearing, with his shirt half way open but he stopped himself when he realized that she was there.  
By the surprised look on his face, he had not been aware that she was there. Immediately, he closed his shirt and looked away. "I didn't see you guys there!" Sakura continued as she quickly moved over to her wet clothes and gathered them up. She didn't look at the young men at all, for she knew that they were naked and she knew she was blushing. It was only thank the gods that it was too dark to actually see the blush on her face. "Well, I've already taken my bath and I'm squeaky clean so I'll just be on my way!" She told them as she started to hurry away.

However, before she could get away, Rock Lee caught her arm and held her back. "Oh, come on, Zaku! Stay awhile!" He said pulling her back towards the river. He didn't even notice how red she was or was trying not to look down because he wasn't wearing anything. "We were jerks to you before, we know. But we want start over! Come join us! We can have a water fight!"

Sakura shook her head as she tried not to look at any one of the young men as they all jumped into the river or was still pulling off their clothing. This was awkward enough, she had to silently admit. She knew for a fact that if she hadn't been pretending to be a boy, the young men probably would have let her go. But she was a "boy". Apparently, they didn't care about being naked around another man. "Uh….n-no, it's okay! I….I uh, already took my bath….and I should be going! I'm pretty tired, you know, after today's training." She said and faked a yawn. She abruptly stopped when a naked Sasuke walked right past her, tossing his clothes to the side.

"You know he's not going to give up, don't you, Haruno." The black haired young man said as he went into the water. "So give it a rest. If not join us, stick around. Everyone wants to talk to you anyway." He spoke quietly.

**"A naked Sasuke?!" **Inner Sakura gasped with excitement. **"Talking about our lucky day! Stay with them! Cha! Besides, you got to see Sasuke naked before Ino-pig did!" **

Sakura had to fight back a smile at that thought. She knew that Ino-pig would be drooling if she was here. So she sighed in defeat and shrugged. "Oh, okay." She said and then rubbed her arm when the naked Rock Lee let go of her and went to jump in the river. She kept her eyes adverted from the guys as she went over to a far rock and sank down on it. She tried her best to keep from looking at the several group of young men, though her eyes flickered over to Neji who went over and sank down next to her, looking rather moody. She knew it was because he wanted to go bathe but he wasn't going to with her around.

"So," began Shikamaru as he moved to stand right in front of Sakura and bent forward a little. Sakura's face immediately to flush hot red as she snapped her eyes up into his dark ones to keep herself from looking down. "Let's start over then. I'm Nara Shikamaru."

Sakura swallowed hard as she tried to smile at him. "Um, Hi, Shikamaru." She said nervously before she felt an urge to slugging Neji because he was smirking with amusement. 'At least someone finds this hilarious!' She thought bitterly.

Shikamaru then got shoved to the side by Kiba and a wet puppy. "Hey, Zaku! I'm Inuzuka Kiba and this is my best friend, Akamaru!" He said patting the wet puppy on the head. Sakura smiled as she waved at them next, her eyes mostly focused on the puppy. "H-hi, Kiba, Akamaru."

And then to her surprise, the puppy wriggled right out of Kiba's arms and hopped onto her lap, now licking her hands. It seemed to surprise Kiba too because his eyes grew wide with astonishment. "Hey! I think he likes you! He doesn't usually like other guys." He said scratching the back of his shaggy hair with thought.

Sakura smiled to herself and noticed that Neji was also smiling as he shook his head while looking at the puppy from the corner of his eyes. In a way, they shared a silent inside joke. 'Might not like other guys, but he probably likes girls.' Sakura thought as she ran her fingers through Akamaru's fur. 'You probably know that I'm a girl, don't you, Akamaru. But you're not going to tell anyone.'

"Well, I'm Choji of the Akimichi Clan." Said the large young man who was sitting in the river with a box of cookies. It was actually kind of gross to see him eating and trying to take a bath at the same time, so Sakura didn't spare him a glance.

The dark haired Shinobi who seemed to match Sasuke's personality just shrugged. "Sai. From the Root Clan." He said quietly.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto said brightly as he jumped up and down in the river, waving at her. "But you already knew that!"  
Sakura couldn't stop herself from smiling at him, not feeling bothered anymore. But then Naruto's name hit her a little bit. Her eyes lit up as she thought of Minato's name. His name was Uzumaki-Namekaze Minato. So, was he related to Naruto? In a way she could see a comparison to the Shinobi General. They were both blonde and they did have the same colored eyes. "Naruto," She began quietly. "Are you related to the Shinobi, Minato-sama?"

Naruto grinned at the question and nodded vigorously. "Yup! He's my dad! Cool, huh?!" He asked loudly.

Sakura smiled again as she kept petting Akamaru on the head as she turned her eyes onto the next boy, a silent one with black hair and he was wearing dark sunglasses over his eyes. The boy only merely glanced at her before looking away. "Aburame Shino."

"Yeah, he's from the bug loving clan." Shikamaru said smirking, receiving a dark look for his remark.

Rock rose a hand as he splashed in the water, looking very excited as it was his turn. "I'm Maito-Lee Rock! I'm the Shinobi, Gai's adopted son!"

Sakura only nodded as turned her eyes onto Sasuke now. Of course, she already knew his name. Who didn't know his name or his clan? But still, it would be nice if he introduced himself anyway. "……" Sasuke hummed as he leaned against rock in the water and tried to relax. He didn't even look like he was going to say anything. But after Neji tossed a small pebble at him to get his attention, he looked at Sakura, somewhat annoyed. "Uchiha Sasuke." Then he turned his eyes back onto the group of boys who started a water fight.

Silently, Sakura watched the guys having their bit of fun, no longer blushing to see them naked. It didn't bother her anymore as she kept running her fingers through Akamaru's fur. Her thoughts on each of these young men.  
It was true that all of them seemed nicer than before. And now that she was seeing this side of them, she didn't think that she would mind if she was matched up with any one of them. She wondered if she would be matched up with one of them, which would be her match. She, of course, wanted Sasuke, because he was the most good looking one of the bunch. But if not him, who? She figured that she wouldn't mind being matched up with Naruto. He wasn't bad looking at all. He was actually pretty handsome. And he had been the first to try and befriend her. But it was his personality that made her think twice. He was too loud and obnoxious. He was definitely not her type at all.  
So she figured that she wouldn't have mind Neji. He was pretty handsome, himself. But the thing was, he was way too serious. She didn't think she could like someone as serious than him…..

'Oh, someone so serious. Neji is almost as serious as Sasuke.' Sakura thought bitterly to herself. So who else then?

Sakura crinkled her nose to think that she would be paired up with Shikamaru. She really could not see herself with him. He wasn't bad looking either, but he was too lazy. He was a little too procrastinated in her opinion. If she was paired with him, she might have just murdered him in their marriage bed. Shino, she didn't know. Rock Lee creeped her out with his sunny personality and weird eyebrows. Choji was too disgusting. She would kill herself if he was with her. Sai….well, he was too emotionless. The guy showed no emotions at all.

So with a sigh, Sakura decided to give up.

But however, as if he had read her mind or had been thinking the very same thing, Rock looked at her, grinning. "Hey, Zaku! I heard you have a twin sister!" He said brightly. "What's her name and what's she like?"

Sakura blinked in surprise before she looked at him. The question definitely took her by surprise. She had never actually thought about herself. She wondered what she could say in a boy's point of view. So she decided to be honest. "Uh….well….." She scratched the back of her neck. "……Well, her name's Sakura. She….um, well, she looks kind of like me. We both have pink hair, though she definitely looks better with it." She tried to joke. And as she had opened, some of the young men laughed with her. Sasuke even cracked a smile, as did Neji. "She, uh…..I don't know what I can say about her. I should know about her more than anyone else, 'cause we are kind of close to one another. So close that you could almost say that we're almost the same person." Sakura laughed weakly.

The young men didn't seem to catch on, but Neji rose an eyebrow at her. "So, she's really pretty, huh?" Naruto asked wonderingly.

Sakura shrugged. She thought that was a pretty easy question. She knew that she was a beautiful girl. She had had several men tell her that almost every day. "Yes. She's definitely a beautiful girl. She's had so many men tell her that all them. So many times that I….I had to threaten them to leave her alone. You know, kind of a protective brother thing." She lied. But the other young men nodded in agreement. They seemed to know exactly what she meant.

"But what is she like? You didn't say what she was like." Rock said pouting.

Sakura frowned at him for his whining but then she shook her head as she placed her chin into her hand. Then she thought of something. This was her chance to find out what kind of girl was Sasuke's type. She knew this was her chance to find out if he would be interested in her. "Oh, well, she's pretty outspoken. She speaks her mind and tries to do the right thing. Even if she gets into trouble for it. It's not always smart when she does speak her mind, but she really likes to express herself. She likes to talk a lot. And sometimes it's fun talking to her. And she's very intelligent." She looked to Sasuke to see if he was interested. But she was very disappointed to see that he didn't look at all interested. He actually looked a little annoyed.

"A woman who doesn't know how to keep quiet, huh? Sometimes women shouldn't say anything." Sasuke said quietly as if he had read the look on Sakura's face. "Not my type at all. I like the quiet ones." He remarked.

Next to him, Sai nodded. "Same here." He said just as quietly. "I like the kind that stays quiet while I'm drawing them or painting them."

Sakura slouched just a little to hear what Sasuke had said but then looked at the grinning Naruto, who looked very excited. "Not me! I like the kind that talks! Those are my kind of girls! It sounds like we could get along just fine!"

Sakura sweat dropped but chose not say anything. She didn't really mind Naruto that much. But she really did not like him in that way.

"Be careful, Naruto. It sounds like you're wanting to two time." Shikamaru said smirking at the blonde. "If I didn't know any better, weren't you already matched up with Neji's cousin, Hinata?"

That caught Sakura's attention immediately and she sat up straighter. She only glanced at Neji when she felt a wave of annoyance coming off of him. And he did look pretty annoyed when Naruto started blushing and nodding. Sakura bit her lip before she looked directly at Naruto. "You're matched up with Hyuuga Hinata?"

"Yeah." Naruto said grinning and rubbing the back of his neck. "I just got paired up with her before I even came to camp. She's not bad at all. We've known each other for years already. She's pretty quiet and she's always nervous around me. But she's really pretty and get along pretty well." He told her.

Sakura just smiled. Now that she thought about it, Hinata had mentioned something about a guy she really liked. She remembered that the pretty but always nervous girl told her about a young blonde man who was pretty outgoing and was always smiling. She must have meant Naruto. 'So that's why she got incredibly nervous at the matchmaker's. She must have been way too surprised that she was getting matched up with the boy she's always liked.' The pink haired girl thought to herself.

"Well, I like the real good looking ones!" Rock said suddenly. "The girl of my dreams has to be one of the most beautiful of all of the land and she must really flowery and all!" He then looked at Sakura, who was giving him a suspicious look. "You said that Sakura was beautiful, right? Exactly how beautiful?" He asked hopefully.

Sakura gave him a very dull look as a large sweat drop rolled down the side of her face. She was not going to give him the satisfaction of thinking he would get matched up with her, actually Zaku's twin sister. "Yes, she's beautiful. But she is definitely not flowery. She might have pink hair but she is definitely not your type, Rock. Your weird haircut and large eyebrows would creep her out." She remarked.

"Aww!" Rock whined as he slouched over.

The other men laughed and shook their heads before Kiba ducked into the water then came back all soaking wet. "I don't care what my match looks like. As long as she's a very good breeder, I'll deal with her." He said with a sick grin. Sakura blushed hot red as she looked away. She did not want to be there anymore. Not with a pervert like Kiba.

Immediately, everyone began to launch into ideas of what kind of ideals and qualities their girl should have. Some didn't apply to Sakura at all, so she was a little happy to hear that. She frowned to hear that Neji finally admitted that he was also matched up with Tenten, another girl that she knew. She actually kind of agreed with that one. In a way, she could see Tenten with Neji.

But still, the thought of who she would be matched up bothered her. With all of the young men telling her their ideas of their girl would be, she began to see that none of them were her type. Not even Sasuke. So who in the world is her match up? What would happen if she didn't have a match up? What if there was no match for her? She was starting to get worried. She did remember that the match maker said that if she wanted love, she would find no match. Unless it was with a……

"A Hatake?" She found herself whispering.

Unfortunately, the others had heard and they all looked at her questionably. Even Neji glanced at her. Sakura realized that they heard so she looked back at them with a faint blush. "Oh, I'm sorry, guys. I'm a little tired, so catch you guys later." She put Akamaru to the side and hurried off, not even bother looking over her shoulder. She knew that they others were staring after her but she didn't stop.


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters, though I wish I did.**

**A/N: Hey, Everyone! Thanks for the reviews. As you may have finally figured it out, yes, this is a Saku/Kaka pairing. I absolutely love Kakashi, so bear with me. And to one of the readers, Kakashi's really not that much older than Sakura. I've meddled with the ages a little so that they're only nine or ten years older than her. Sakura is 18 years old while he is 27. It's really not THAT big of an age difference, is it? **

**Anyway, I****n this chapter, she gets to learn a little about a side of Kakashi that no one else gets to see. Not even his equals. And she gets to learn about his perverted books. lol. Read**** and Review, please.

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**Naruto-Heart of Honor Eight**

Wandering almost aimlessly, Sakura was in deep thought as she walked towards the camp. She couldn't stop but think about what the match maker had said. She remembered the matchmaker had said to take a Hatake if she wanted love. But it couldn't be…..could it? Did the match maker really mean Hatake Kakashi? Exactly how many Hatakes were there in the world? She wasn't even sure. She didn't known anything about the Hatake Clan. But there was no way it could have been Kakashi that the matchmaker had told her about. It was inconceivable. There was no way it could have been him. In the pink haired girl's opinion, they had nothing in common. While she was…..and he was so……Kakashi was so bossy and way too strict. She had to admit that he was a very hard worker……

"Oh." Sakura groaned as it hit her.

She remembered exactly what she had said to the matchmaker about qualities. She had told her that the man she wanted had to be a hard worker, a little strict about certain things but had to be a little laid back and he kept it at a limit. She had only seen him laid back once and that was on a very nice and breezy day. He had been lounging out on the grass, talking with the Shinobi Elites. That had been the day he decided to give everyone a break. But that was it. And in a way, she was the very same way. So, maybe they did have a little in common after all. But it didn't mean that he valued love as much as she did.

Feeling a little dizzy, Sakura decided to sit down. Her head was spinning with thoughts and she didn't like it too much. So she found her seat on a log and she began to think again. She knew that she was thinking too much right now, and it was probably going overheat her brain or something.

"Hmm. Trying to get peace and quiet, too?"

Sakura's body immediately froze up and it took a lot of her strength to not jump up and scream while running away. She had been way too startled to hear that voice all the way out here. Especially when she had just been thinking about that particular person. Talking about taboos.

She looked up and found Kakashi sitting on a high branch with one leg dangling while he was reading a book. He was just sitting there, looking so relaxed. He must have been sitting there for quite a while now. But how long had he been there? And had he….had been near the river? Had he seen…..her?!

"Uh, Kak….I mean, Hatake-sama! I, uh, didn't see you up there!" Sakura stammered.

Kakashi didn't look at her but kept his one good eye on the words of the book. He didn't even reply to her as he turned a page. It was only a second later, and looking a little closer, did Sakura realize **WHAT** he was reading. She could see the large red circle with an X on the back and then on the cover there was a picture of a man chasing a woman. Her face flushed hot red when she read the title. "You're reading a porn?!" She found herself gasp before she slapped a hand over her mouth.

Rolling his eye, Kakashi looked down at her. "How many times do I have to tell everyone. It's not a porn book, all right? What, you're telling me you've never seen these books before?" He asked dryly.

Sakura shook her head still blushing. But she was half annoyed that he took it like that. She was not the kind who went around and picked up a pervey book for the pleasure of reading. "No. I have seen those books before. But I've never read them. They're for perverts!" She said crinkling her nose before she suddenly remembered that the book WAS in her commanding Shinobi's hands. "Oh! Uh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that you're a….."

However, Kakashi didn't look as annoyed as she thought he would have. He actually amused. He looked at her over the top of the book before closing it and holding it up. "It's not a porn." He told her before he tossed the book down to her. "Check it out if you don't believe me."

It startled Sakura a little that he did that but she quickly lashed out and caught the book in both hands before holding it out as if it had been diseased. "Ew! No way! I don't read these things!" She groaned.

"Just open it and read the summary." Kakashi said, dryly.

Sakura bit her lip at the orange book with disgust before glancing up at the Shinobi. She was half tempted of just tossing it back to him and tell him that she couldn't read it because she didn't have her reading glasses. Though she was pretty sure he would figure out that it was a lie. He was a professional after all. It was no doubt he'd be able to tell a lie from truth. Still….she was a little curious. She had seen these books once in an adult book store and had been tempted to checking them out. But her mother had scolded her for thinking about it and warned her to never, ever touch the books.

Still, this was her chance to finding out what these books were all about.

Curiously, she flipped the book open to a page in the middle, glancing curiously at Kakashi, who was watching her but didn't seem too bothered that she was taking her time to looking at the book. He just nodded her on to taking a look. So she did. She flipped it to the front page and looked at it.

_Icha Icha Elites, written by Jiraiya, the Legendary Shinobi and Expert of Love_

_To my number one fan, Hatake Kakashi.  
__Keep your heart open, no matter what happens. _

Sakura frowned at the scribbling on the front page before she looked down a short summary of the book writing under it.

_Story's Summary:  
__The story about a Shinobi Elite who goes on a mission onto to terminate an Kuniochi of a rivaling village. Upon meeting her, he falls in love with her and finds that he cannot kill her. However, the Kuniochi has a mission too. To seduce a Shinobi Elite and get him to tell secret information that deals with his village. But as they travel together, they find that they are falling for one another and they must decide where they stand. With the Shinobi's peaceful village or the Assassin's Village that had raised the Kuniochi since she was very little. _

_This Romeo and Juliet story is full of steamy seduction, an action packed adventure and a love that will test two rivaling villages. _

Sakura's eyes grew wide as she read the summary, looking almost amazed. She couldn't believe what she was reading. She had always thought that the Icha Icha books were just porn books. But seeing this one, it actually had a story line?!

"Hmm." Kakashi chuckled, obviously reading the look on her face. "Surprised?"

The pink haired Shinobi recruit looked up at him as she continued to hold the book in her hands. The look on her face told the Shinobi commander all that he needed to know. She was surprised. She hadn't expected these books to have a story line. She wondered if her parents even knew that they did. She knew that her mother absolutely hated the Icha Icha series because of the many tales about sex but seriously, it didn't sound that bad. "Uh, yeah. Actually I am surprised." She told the silver white haired Shinobi.

Kakashi nodded as he hopped down from the tree and held out his hand for his book back. "A lot of people believe that these are nasty books for perverts but I can guarantee you that they're not. They're just romance novels."

"…..so you read romance novels?" Sakura asked as she gave him the book. "Wow. I would have never guessed. I just thought that you were….ah….." She decided to shut up before she said something that she would regret.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he put the book back into his hip pouch. "I'm what? Just a very strict Shinobi who likes to boss my men around?" He seemed to smile under his mask, yet it looked mischievous. "I am. But even I have my days." He said shrugging before he turned away. He didn't move though. "You're worried, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Sakura asked dumbly before she shook her head.

Kakashi tilted his head towards her, his eye looking at her from the side. He was quiet for a moment before nodding towards the tree. "I could hear you and the others at the river. Talking about matches with women and all. I can tell you're a little worried about something."

Sakura cursed inside. She was surprised of how observant this man was. So Minato hadn't been lying when he told her that Kakashi was an observer. He seemed to be reading the very expressions on her face. But then again, the very subject gave the pink haired girl an idea. She wondered if she could get this so strict Shinobi to actually have a pleasant conversation with her. So far it was going that way. But would he actually talk about matches with her? With Haruno Zaku? She decided to give it a try.  
"Oh, well, yeah. A little. The guys were talking about matches and all. But you knew that. I haven't been matched up with anyone yet and I don't really care too much." Sakura said with a lazy shrug. She saw Kakashi raise his eyebrow even further up. So obviously, that wasn't really something she should have said. She wondered why. But she tried again. "So, uh, Hatake-sama! What's your ideal of a match? I mean, are you married yet?"

Now, Kakashi gave her a dry look. He looked almost too annoyed. It was a look Sakura knew pretty well by now. "Why does it matter?" He asked dryly.

Sakura quickly looked away as she folded her arms. "Uh, never mind. Sorry. I didn't…." She was saying as she started to move away. But it surprised her when Kakashi placed a hand onto her shoulder, holding her back.

"…..Is that what you're worried about? You're worried about what match you're going to get?" The Shinobi asked, quietly.

Sakura swallowed hard as she made a quick glance up at him before looking at the ground, trying to look casual. "No. Not really." She knew that was a lie and she really hoped that Kakashi couldn't have tell. But she was pretty sure that he could. She needed to find a distraction and she came up with a quick one. "I'm worried about my twin sister, Sakura." She saw Kakashi staring at her, a little interest in his eyes. She wondered why he would be interested.

"Hmm. What about her?" Kakashi pried.

Sakura now looked up at him, inwardly smiling. She was surprised that Kakashi was actually talking to her about this. "Well….she….she doesn't like the idea of being in an arranged marriage. She wanted to find her own match but as you know, it doesn't work that way." She said with a lazy shrug. "She doesn't want to be matched up with someone who won't love her. Someone who she doesn't know and will treat her poorly." She then rolled her eyes. "She wants love in a relationship. I think she's just being stupid. Love is for fools. Love doesn't give your family honor." She said sarcastically.

"There is nothing wrong with love, Zaku." Kakashi said dryly.

Sakura blinked in surprise before looking up at him. She saw the dark look on the Shinobi's face. He looked almost…..offended at what she just said. She saw that he was looking at the ground but his one revealed eye was narrowed. "Huh?"

Kakashi lifted his head a little, yet folded his arms. "There is nothing wrong with love at all. There is no more honorable way in a relationship than love." He looked right back at her. "Without love, there is no perfect match. If your sister really wants love in a relationship, then no one has any right to say otherwise."

"But…..the matchmaker told me……told my family that she's a fool for it." Sakura told him. "She said that….."

Kakashi shook his head as he shifted his weight, looking dully at her. He looked rather impatient, but she wasn't sure if he was impatient with her. "That would probably be Tsunade then." He said gruffly. "That woman doesn't believe in love anymore, Haruno. You and your sister should ignore her about any remark she makes about love."

Sakura tilted her head. "What's her problem? Why doesn't she like love?" She asked curiously.. Kakashi only shook his head as he looked away. "Years ago, her one and only love, Dan was killed right before they could get married. Because of his death, her heart died with him. She doesn't believe in love because she believes that it will only hurt someone." He told her.

"Oh." Sakura sighed, now realizing why the matchmaker had acted like she had. She now understood it. And now that she understood the matchmaker, Tsunade, as Kakashi put it, she couldn't blame her. "You know, I've always believed that…..that other men didn't see love as important. I kind of agree with you and Sakura. But…."

Kakashi seemed to have guessed what she was trying to say because he looked back at her. "A lot of us are different. A lot of men see love as a weak emotion. A lot of men prefer lust over love. They'd just want to get some woman in their bed." He didn't seem to notice that Sakura started blushing. "But there are few of us who cherish love as much as it sounds like with your sister."

"Okay." Sakura said slowly, her eyes narrowing a little in a questionably. "Hatake-sama, can I ask you something? I don't want to offend you or make you mad. Because I've done that enough since I've even came here." She saw him smirk at her words, looking amused as he looked at her but she pressed on. "But, can I ask you, what is love to you? You seem like a pure soldier who couldn't care less about love. No offense."

Kakashi shook his head as he turned and started walking back towards the camp, pausing to look back at Sakura. He looked as if he was waiting for her to join him. She quickly did so, pulling up to his side. "None taken. As you and everyone knows, I am pretty strict about training you, boys. But you do have to understand, we ARE at war. You need to be ready to fight for your lives and the lives of your families." He shook his head as he suddenly looked distant. "Your question before, when you asked me if I had once been married. No, I've never been married. But I did have a match years ago. It was right before I got this." He touched his forehead protector where Sakura remembered the scar over his left eye. "We were friends before we became a match and believe me, it surprised us when we ended up together. You see, she had mixed feelings about me and my best friend, who gave me this eye. He was in love her, she loved us both. It was kind of a love triangle, but we were all friends."

"Oh. Well, what happened? Why aren't you married now?" Sakura asked. She didn't mean to pry but she really wanted to understand this man.

The Copy ninja didn't seem to mind as he glanced down at her before looking towards the night sky. "Several months since we were paired up, enemies of the village attacked us while we were travelling together. We fought them but it didn't turn out so good. I was still a little naïve to fight, like I told you before. I thought I could take them myself and I lost my eye. Because of my mistake, my best friend and my match up were killed. But not before my friend gave me his eye." He looked back at Sakura. "She was my first love, I'll admit it. I did love her. But she was killed trying to save my life."

Sakura looked away, with a sad look. She didn't know what she could say about that. She didn't what to say. She couldn't even stop herself from reaching out and touching Kakashi's arm, almost comfortingly. "I'm sorry, Kakashi." She said before she pulled her hand back and touched her mouth with it as if she had said something bad. "Oh…I mean…."

"It's all right. I don't mind." Kakashi said giving her a soft look. "You can call me Kakashi. You've earned my respect, Zaku." He was smiling. She could tell that he was. There was just a little gleam in his eye that told her that he was smiling. "It's been seven years since she died. Maybe it is time to move on. I know she'd want me to."

Sakura smiled at him, not being able to help herself as she folded her hands behind her back. "And…." She paused. "….have you?" She was trying to ask him carefully.

"Well, Tsunade did show up to my place saying that she found me an 80 percent match not too long ago." Kakashi said with a lazy shrug. "I wasn't really interested but she wouldn't leave me alone about it. She can be pretty persuasive." He told her, leaning forward a little. Sakura's eyes brightened to hear that. She knew that was good news. She had heard her mother say one time that the percentages of matches were very important. If anyone had 75 percent or higher matches with another person, then they would be matched up. Anything below that, they wouldn't.

"Oh! That's good! If it's that close, maybe you should meet the girl you were matched up with!"

Kakashi was quiet for a moment as he looked away. He looked as if there was something on his mind. "Maybe." He muttered before looking back at her. "Your twin sister, Zaku, what is she like? Is she anything like you?"

Sakura tilted her head curiously. She wondered why he wanted to know about her. She shrugged as she tried to think. "Well, as I told the other guys, her name is Sakura. She's kind of outspoken and she likes to talk. She speaks her mind, even though it sometimes gets her into trouble. She tries to do the right thing but sometimes it's not enough. Uh….she's pretty serious when she needs to be." She looked down at the ground. "Well, she's somewhat like me. She's really smart but sometimes other people don't want to listen to her. Just because she's a woman." She said that a little bitterly before shaking her head, realizing that she wasn't being careful. It didn't seem to hit Kakashi though. He was looking away from her with a thoughtful look on his face again. "Still, she's like me. Only not as dashingly good looking as me." She attempted a joke, just to see if he really had a sense of humor.

And to her delight, Kakashi snorted with amusement as he looked back at her. "Oh, really? So she's definitely better looking than you then." He joked right back.

Then he and Sakura shared light laugh, which grew into real laughter that they had to lean against each other to stop from falling over. Sakura was actually feeling very happy though. She couldn't believe that the strict Shinobi actually did have a sense of humor. And he wasn't so bad. It was actually a little fun. She looked up at Kakashi, who smiled right back. She had to admit it, he wasn't bad at all. She wondered what it would be like to be his match.

After a moment of looking at one another, a strange look appeared on Kakashi's face and his eye grew a little wide as he quickly moved back, looking as if he had just been burned. He just stared at Sakura with alarm for a moment before he turned away, looking back towards the camp.

"Huh? Hey, Kakashi, are you feeling all right?" Sakura couldn't help but ask. She didn't know why he had reacted like that but she hoped that he wasn't coming down with anything.

Kakashi just kept his back to her as he ran his hand through his silver white hair, looking a little annoyed. "It's nothing. We better back to camp. We have an early morning." He grumbled before moving away, leaving her stunned. She wasn't sure what just happened and it nearly made her just scratch her head stupidly as she tried to think. 'What just happened?'

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The tent flap to Kakashi's tent was flung open and the Shinobi Commander stomped through, looking a little faint. He looked as if someone had just told him something embarrassing or he had done something to humiliate himself. A few thoughts running through his head as he made his way across the tent to his desk and he leaned against it, his head bowed.

'What in the hell is wrong with me?!' He thought in rage at himself as he glared down at the desk.

Moments before, when he had been laughing with Haruno Zaku, a thought had crossed his mind and that was what caused him to practically fling himself away from the boy. He cursed himself for even thinking of it. Moments before, he, Hatake Kakashi, had actually thought about……no! He couldn't think of it again! There was obviously something wrong with him. There was no way, no stinking way in hell he could think about doing that. There was no way he could be thinking about one of his MEN like that!

"Hey, my eternal rival!" came the most annoying voice from outside his tent. "Are you awake?"

Kakashi groaned as he lowered his head more. He heard his tent flap flip open and he sensed the Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast walk in, even if he hadn't granted him access. This was something that annoyed the Copy Ninja a lot but he knew it was no use. Gai always did things like this. So, irritated, he asked, "What, Gai?"

Gai stepped inside the tent, letting the flap drop and he looked at his rival's back with his arms folded across his chest. "Oh, don't be like that, Kakashi! I was just coming to let you know that my team's getting better." He then realized how irritated that Kakashi was looking at him. "What, what's wrong?"

"You couldn't have waited to tell me that in the morning? We are going to have a meeting in the morning about that. You know that." Kakashi said almost glaring at Gai. Gai only shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. "Oh, come on. I just wanted to make my report early. Because I was going to ask the all mighty commander for permission to actually take my team on a hike tomorrow." He told Kakashi.  
Kakashi rolled his eyes before he got a sudden idea. Because of what happened with Zaku, he felt like he needed to keep his distance from the boy for a little while. Problem was, he was the pink haired boy's trainer. So why not pass him onto someone else until the Copy ninja could collect his thoughts. "Fine. I'll grant you permission, Gai. But," He smirked as he straightened. "I think I want to you to take one of my students for a little while."

"Huh?! What do you mean?! Don't tell you want me to train that gaki, Naruto! He annoys me!" Gai exclaimed looking annoyed.

Kakashi just narrowed his good eye at the man in a blue jumpsuit. "No, not Naruto, you baka. Out of my students, both Sasuke and Naruto are showing some promise. But Zaku still needs a little work. Sure, he has some excellent chakra control but he's still not strong enough. I want you train him, help him become a little stronger." He told him, dryly.

There was a pause before Gai shrugged. He really didn't mind Haruno Zaku that much. He actually found that young man quite interesting. He, like his son, adored beautiful things and the boy was quite a beautiful person. "All right. All right. I'll take the youthful, beautiful boy….." He then noticed something about the look on Kakashi's face, and how he had looked away. "Kakashi, is there something wrong with Haruno that you're not telling me about?"

"No. Just train him." Kakashi said with annoyance as he turned away.

There was another pause before Gai thought of something. He seemed to have figured it out because he grinned. "Ooh. Let me guess……"

"No. Don't guess." Kakashi said darkly as he turned and gave him an even darker look. He looked like he was getting ready to go over and punch Gai's lights out. "Just get out of here and start training Haruno in the morning. I don't want to hear any of your theories."

Gai chuckled as he turned away from him, still looking at his rival. "Ouch. Okay. Don't get angry." He then started back out of the tent, pausing at the flap. "Kind of strange though. I know Haruno Zaku's a lovely boy, but it's hilarious that you, Kakashi, find him attract……"

**SLAM!**

The book that hit the back of Gai's head fell to the ground, making the black haired man stumble forward a little, wincing in pain and slap a hand on the back of his head. "Ouch!" He yelped.

"Just get out of here now, Gai!" Kakashi snarled angrily.

Chuckling painfully, Gai glanced over his shoulder at the angry Kakashi before leaving the tent, still rubbing the back of his head. "Can't say I didn't deserve that." He laughed before vanishing. Kakashi just glared at the tent flap, as if Gai was still in there with him.


	10. Chapter 9

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**A/N: Hey, Everyone! Thanks for the reviews. Don't really have much to say on this chapter, only that Sakura's going to find out what REAL training is like. If she thought training with Kakashi was hard, wait till she find out what Gai does with his students. Though I think you already get the idea. **

**Read and Review, please!**

**Naruto-Heart of Honor: Nine**

As the sun slowly rose the next morning, the camp was coming to life as all of the Shinobi were making their way towards the mesh tent to get some breakfast. Some of them were still stretching and yawning as they went, Sakura being one of them. She was still a little tired but not as much. She was starting to get used to getting up so early after all the time she had been there.

"Hey, morning."

Sakura blinked a few times as she tried to wipe her eyes from sleep before she turned to look at Neji as he approached her. She gave him a wave as she made her way into the breakfast line. "Morning, Neji. Sorry about last night." She muttered. "I know I should have waited till you were done training. I just didn't expect you guys to show up at that area of the river."

Neji shook his head as he folded his hands behind his back, looking forward. He looked a little bored but it was something that Sakura was used to by now. "It's not your fault. You were trying to get washed up. Though, you probably should have waited till I was training with Gai-sensai before going to the river. But at least you didn't get caught." He told her. Sakura only shrugged before waving as Naruto came bounding towards them with Sasuke behind him. She gave them silent good mornings before they collected their breakfast. "What do you think today's going to be like?" She asked as they sat down. Rock Lee, Shikamaru, Kiba, Shino and Sai soon joined them at their table, all muttering their good mornings. Rock was the only one to look cheerful about it though. He was pretty much the only one who was such an early, early riser.

"Well, our team is going on a hike!" The young Gai-clone said cheerfully.

Neji slowly nodded as he ate his food. He didn't look entirely thrilled, but he didn't mind either. He just hoped that Lee wouldn't bug him. Sakura just smiled and shook her head. "That sounds like fun. What do you guys do anyway? How does Gai-sensai train you?"

Lee was grinning at her, as he got very excited. Neji, on the other hand, just rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "Did you really have to ask?" He asked with a little annoyance. Sakura frowned but then looked at Lee when he began to bounce up and down on the bench. "We work on our strength, Zaku, to become the strongest and most invulnerable Shinobi in the army!" He said in a loud and bold voice.

Sakura rose her eyebrow but then shook her head as she looked at Neji to see if that was true. She wouldn't take Lee's word for it very much. Neji only shook his head as he leaned back a little. "Lee's telling the truth. Gai makes us work on our strength, though I don't see the point in my case. My clan has been using the Gentle Fist techniques for a while. So I don't really need to use strength to defeat my enemies." He told her in a low voice. Sakura tilted her head with a little curiosity. She wasn't sure what that was. She faintly remembered that her father might have said something about the Gentle Fist techniques but he couldn't tell her too much.

"Gentle what?" came Naruto's voice.

Sakura turned around on her bench to see Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Shikamaru, Shino and Kiba walking up towards them, the energetic blonde being the only one yawning. But he was interested in what Neji's Gentle Fist Technique was. But he wasn't the only one. Even Kiba looked interested into finding out. Both his and Akamaru's head was cocked to the side with curiosity. It made Sakura smile to see how cute the puppy was looking.

"That's Gentle Fist Technique." Neji said with mild annoyance. "It's a technique that only my clan can handle using. It's connected with Byakugan eye. The Gentle Fist technique allows me to attack certain areas of one's body, sometimes paralyzing them for a short time. I guess you can say with the Gentle Fist, I can attack pressure points, certain veins for the blood flow, even one's heart, if I wished." He told them calmly. Sakura and Naruto both looked rather alarmed by the sound of that. They hadn't known that Neji knew that kind of technique. Now that Sakura actually thought about it, she only knew about the Byakugan eye and that was it. She wasn't sure what else he knew.

"Wow, Neji. I didn't know you could do that." Shikamaru said lazily. "Remind me to never piss you off again then."

Neji only lazily smirked at him as he looked at him. "Remind yourself, Nara. Because I certainly won't." He told him. Shikamaru grimaced before he sank down on the bench and began eating some of the fruit on the table while Shino was now eyeing Sakura. It was almost the same look that Neji had given her the first time he looked at her. The thought of him figuring out what she was made her groan.

'Please don't tell me he has some kind of secret eye thing too.' She thought before looking towards the door when the Elites entered. She perked up a little when she saw Kakashi being one of them. He was having a deep conversation with the Shinobi Elite, Ibiki. They looked rather serious about something. But when they entered the mesh tent, Kakashi glanced around and his eye paused on Sakura before it was quickly moving back to Ibiki. That really made Sakura frown. It was almost like Kakashi was avoiding her.

The Shinobi Elite, Gai, on the other hand, looked straight at Sakura and grinned before he practically danced across the tent over to their table. "Good morning, youthful Shinobi!" He practically sang, giving them a sparkly smile and thumbs up.

Lee jumped to his feet and copied his father. "Good morning, youthful Sensai!" Then he laughed with Gai, while the others just sweat dropped and watched dully. "When are we going to learn that awesomely awesome jutsu you promised us, Master?!"

Gai just grinned as he placed his fists onto his waist, giving him a nod. "Oh, don't you worry, young Rock Lee! You'll be seeing it today." He then turned his black eyes onto Sakura, was still a little weirded out by both father and son. She was trying her best to eat her breakfast and not try to provoke them into doing anything else weird. "Oh, Haruno Zaku. You will be joining my team from now on to increase your strength." The Elite suddenly announced.

Sakura jumped on the bench and nearly inhaled her food when she heard that. She coughed and choked on the bits of bacon until Neji started clapping her on the back to make her cough it up. Shikamaru, just as alarmed as she and the others, handed her a jug of water so she down whatever else was lodged in her throat. After she was freed of food in her mouth and throat, she looked wide eyed up at Gai, almost too stunned. "What?!" She gasped. "But I thought…..!"

"Oh, it's not that bad! Kakashi ordered me last night that I was to train you to work on your strength." Gai said grinning. Though within his mind he was thinking, 'And he wants to stay away from you for a little because you're making him feel gay.' But he decided that he wouldn't tell her that part.  
Sakura tilted her head before she looked towards Kakashi, who was still talking to Ibiki, not looking her way at all. She wondered why in the world Kakashi suddenly wanted her to be trained by Gai. Did it have something to do with what happened the night before? She didn't know what was going through Kakashi's head. Had she done something wrong or was something he did? She wasn't sure. "But…uh….not that I don't have a problem with it. It's just I thought that….." She tried again.

Gai shook his head as he kept on grinning at her. "Don't worry about it. I'll explain it to you later." He then turned around, flicking his long black bangs out of his eyes. "All right, team! We're moving out in ten minutes. Hurry it up and eat so we can go have some fun!" And then he marched off.

Rock Lee immediately began wolfing down his food while Sakura shared a glance at Neji, who looked just as confused as she did. Neither one could figure out what exactly had happened.

"Hmm. I wonder why Kakashi suddenly turned you over to Gai for training." Sasuke muttered out loud as he glanced at the pink haired girl. Sakura shook her head as she rubbed her nose. She really didn't know what she could say to answer that. "I have no idea." She told him honestly. Neji shook his head as he stood up, flipping his long black hair over his shoulder. "Maybe he just thinks you're not the strongest Shinobi. In a way, you are." He told her. "You are the strongest when it comes to Chakra control but when it comes to physical strength, you are the weakest."

Sakura pouted as she placed her chin into her hand. "Oh great. So I'm the weakest. That helps so much. Don't I feel special." She muttered bitterly.

The other young men just smirked or shook their heads. Kiba only shrugged as he gave some of his bacon to Akamaru to wolf down and Lee frowned at her, looking offended. "Well, you should feel special, Zaku! Out of all of the Shinobi, Gai-sensai is the strongest in Physical strength." He grumbled. Shikamaru crinkled his nose but nodded. "Well, that is kind of true. He knows some pretty hardcore Taijutsu from what I've heard." He looked over at Lee. "Hasn't he showed you how to use some kind of technique that lets you punch the ground and it causes fissures or something like that?"

That caught Sakura's attention.

Rock Lee just grinned as he nodded vigorously and bounced on the bench. "Hai! He's showed that to Neji and me, but I'm the only one who'll use it." He sent a glare over to Neji, who rolled his eyes. "Neji says that he doesn't see a point in using it."

"And I don't." Neji said dully.

Sakura just tilted her head as she thought about that technique that they just mentioned. She thought it would probably be useful if she could punch the ground and cause fissures or earthquakes. She wondered if it was even possible for her to learn it. She would have to ask Gai if she could. But with a shrug, she quickly finished her breakfast. She was still wondering why Kakashi had ordered for Gai to train her now and she would have went to ask him if he hadn't disappeared on her.

Not more than ten minutes later, Sakura found herself trudging behind two very cheerful Shinobi in green and an annoyed Neji. She couldn't help but laugh as she followed them. She wondered where Gai was taking them, seeing that they were leaving the camp. They were heading deeper into the dark forest with packs on their back. Sakura could hear Gai humming a merry song as he led the three into the trees.  
"Zaku," Sakura looked over at Neji when he spoke quietly to her. "Last night, after the incident with the river. You didn't happen to run into Kakashi, did you?" He asked. Sakura felt herself starting to blush but she nodded. She knew she couldn't lie to Neji, not that she would. He had become one of her closest friends. He was looking out for her, even though she was a female. "Yeah. I ran into Kakashi last night. He was reading one of those Icha Icha books." She almost laughed when Neji made a face. So obviously he didn't like those books either.

Neji then looked forward. "What happened? Did he get mad or was he annoyed?"

Sakura frowned as she thought about what happened the night before she shook her head. "No. He wasn't mad or annoyed. He was actually kind of nice to me. For once. I guess he was just reading his book when I came along. We talked a little while, actually having a pleasant conversation and we even laughed at something stupid. And then he got a little weird. He took off saying that it was getting late and that we had to be up early. I guess I can understand why he wanted to get some sleep but ever since then, I get the feeling that he's avoiding me." She told Neji.

"Hmm." Neji said before his snorted. "I guess I'm going have to keep my eye on him them."

Sakura only frowned when he said that. She wasn't sure what he was thinking. He was too hard to read. But without saying anything, she looked to Gai when he finally came to a stop. She watched him look around before turning to face the three Shinobi, grinning like an idiot again. "All right! This is the spot!" He then took off his pack and placed his fists onto his waist. "Since Zaku is starting his training with us today, we'll show him what we've been doing. Start stretching until I say and then we'll begin." He told them. Of course, Neji and Lee were already starting to stretch. Sakura only paused before taking off her pack and followed suit.

After five minutes of stretching, Gai stood up straight before looking at the three with his stupid grin. He looked rather excited, but that wasn't anything new to Sakura. She always thought he looked like that. "Okay. Now then, Zaku. Since you have no idea what exactly we do during our training, we're going to start with a warm up sparring match. Neji, Lee, why don't you two start?"

Rock Lee threw a fist up into the air, looking very excited while Neji just shrugged. The two of them walked a little ways away from where Sakura and Gai were standing and faced one another. As soon as they were looking at one another, they snapped into a battle stance, eyes locked on one another's. They looked so serious, almost like they were enemies. It kind of scared Sakura, in a way. She had never seen them like that before. But she watched anyway.  
"Argh!" Lee yelled as he rushed forward, fists flying with fury. Neji just kept on his serious face as he went into a defensive mode, letting Lee's fists come close to hitting him but with extraordinary speed, he blocked the attacks. Between the young man came a strange and dangerous dance of Taijutsu. They were weaving in and out of each other's fists before lashing out at one another. Then Rock Lee jumped forward, grinning at Neji while shouting, "Leaf Gale!" He moved rather quickly, ducking low to the ground and trying to kick Neji's feet right out from beneath him.

But to his disappointment, Neji had seen it coming. He had leapt into the air just as Lee's foot nearly hit his while he made several quick hand signs. "Eight Trigrams Empty Palm." He muttered before thrusting out his palm.

Sakura wasn't even sure what happened but she could have saw a very faint energy wave blow right out of Neji's hand, hitting Lee and knocking him back against a log. She just stared wide eyed at the two, more than astonished that she could see them do something like these. She mostly knew Taijutsu and some of the Ninjutsu but this was amazing. She hadn't even learned any attacks like these guys had. She only knew a few that she had learned from watching her father.

"Ow!" Lee yelped as he landed against the log before pouting at Neji, who smirked smugly.

Gai just chuckled as he held up a hand for them to stop. Both immediately did when they saw him even start raising his hand. But the Elite's eyes went straight to the astonished pink haired 'boy.' "Surprised?" he asked, though Sakura couldn't even answer. He then made a face, as if he was thinking too hard. "What in the hell has Kakashi even been teaching you? Hasn't he shown you any jutsu at all? I would think that my Eternal Rival would teach you something."

Sakura only shrugged as she continued to look at Lee and Neji with surprise. She had not known they knew such skills like that. "Not really. We pretty much just train together, working on team strategies and all that."

Gai looked dully at her, clearly not impressed with his "Eternal Rival", but with a sigh, he reached up and rubbed his forehead. "Holy Youth of the youthful. You would think that my Rival would try and keep up with all of our techniques. But noooo. He just wants you to figure out how to create your own." He then grinned at Sakura, making her step back uneasily. "But once I'm done with you, you will not only be one of the strongest, but you will impress Kakashi with more than just your youthful and lovely looks, boy!" He said cheerfully.

"Ugh." Sakura said uneasily but then swallowed hard. "Um….okay."

Gai then nodded as he pointed to Lee and Neji, as if telling them to do something. "We shall begin as we always! We shall do 1000 pushups, then after that 1000 sit ups! And then we shall do 5000 crunches!" He told them. He didn't even see the wide eyed look of horror on Sakura's face as soon as those words were out of his mouth. She had a dreadful feeling that things were only going to get a little rough after this one.

And it somewhat did.

The training with _Team Youth_ was pretty rough on Sakura. She couldn't believe some of the training techniques that Gai put Neji and Lee through. They had to do some of the most extreme training she had never wanted to do. It nearly took her all day just to get half way through pushups, which was what they started with. By that time, Lee was always the first one done, but that was because he pushed himself so hard to be the first one done. Neji was always annoyed with him and sometimes the Shinobi Elite. Sakura couldn't blame them. They sometimes did get a little too weird.  
And of course, the fact that Lee could never surpass Neji made it more annoying because when he couldn't beat the long haired Shinobi in sparing, or hardly anything, the unusual young man would start whining before pushing himself harder. Sakura was only surprised that the harsh training hadn't killed the guy just yet.

What was better though, she was getting much stronger thanks to Gai. She realized that she was getting stronger. She was getting better in doing push ups and sometimes crunches, though those were the worst for her. She also began to realize that she was starting to get some strong muscles in her arms and when she decided to hit Naruto for being a perverted blockhead, he would start whining and rubbing nasty bruises on his arms. This seemed to please the weird Jounin, Gai, though. He was definitely keeping an eye on her, she could figure. Because shortly after she succeeded in making 1000 pushups within two hours, and having burning muscles, he decided to start teaching her some of his Taijutsu techniques.

And that was when things really got exciting for her.

Sakura had finally developed her very own jutsu that she couldn't wait to show off, but she had sworn to Gai that she would save it for the enemy. It almost made her smirk evilly to think of what would happen if one of Orochimaru's, or the big man himself, tried to pick a fight with her and she let the jutsu loose on them. She almost felt sorry for anyone who became the target of this jutsu.

And speaking of which, things were not going so well with the war.

One crisp summer night, right after finishing taking a bath in the river, with Neji as the look out, of course, they both were walking back to camp when they heard voices within Kakashi's tent. They didn't mean to snoop but when Kakashi started yelling at someone, they couldn't help but just stand off to the side and listen.

"What do you mean that Orochimaru's troops have broken through the boundaries?! Exactly where did they attack?!" Kakashi's voice drifted out of the tent.

There was a quiet voice who answered and it wasn't easy to even hear it. So Sakura looked to Neji, frowning. "What's going on?" She asked in a very low whisper, leaning towards his ear. Neji just shook his head as he stared at the tent. "I'm not sure. I don't think it would be a good idea to eavesdrop but I'm curious too. Hold on a moment." He pulled her into the bushes and then activated his Byakugan eye.

From what he could see through the tent walls, Kakashi was standing over an injured Shinobi messenger, with most of the other Elites with him. The Shinobi ANBU Captain, Ibiki was in there, along with Gai, Iruka and a few of the others, he couldn't even remember their names; though it was Asuma and Genma. The messenger was in a terrible shape though. He was practically dead on the floor.  
Iruka was reading a blood stained scroll, looking rather grave before handing it to Kakashi. "It looks like things are starting to get out of control, Kakashi. This is definitely Master Minato's handwriting. See for yourself?"

Slowly Kakashi nodded as he read the writing on the scroll. He recognized it all right. It was definitely his former master's handwriting. He remembered seeing the handwriting many times when he was younger. But it was what was written on the scroll that bothered him. "It says here that they've spotted Orochimaru's troops near the town they're protecting." He spoke in a low voice. "Minato-sama says that there are way too many and if they do attack, there won't be anyway of stopping them on breaking through."

"What's he planning, Kakashi?" Ibiki asked seriously.

Kakashi just shook his head as he studied the scroll for a long moment before he rolled it back up. "It states that they're going to evacuate the village, or might have a while ago seeing that this is a few days old. But they are going to stand their ground." He clenched his fist around the scroll, squishing it. "Kuso. I just know this isn't going to be good. We should start packing up the camp and make our way towards the Northern border. Just so that we can be a little closer to them if they need immediate help." He then nodded as he made his decision. "That's what we'll do." He looked around to his comrades. "Order your teams to pack everything up, and even tell the others. We're moving out. Meeting dismissed."

Quickly, Neji and Sakura hurried away from the tent and dashed for her tent where they could talk about what they just heard. They didn't want anyone finding out that they had eavesdropped on an Elite meeting. They knew they would get into serious trouble if they were found out. Once they reached Sakura's tent, they sat at the entrance, looking around with alert. Neji even activated his Byakugan eye to look.

"Wh-what was that about?!" Sakura gasped as she tried to catch her breath.

Neji shook his head as he just sat down on his haunches, keeping an eye out for anyone that would approach them. "It's not good news, that's what it was about." He glanced quickly over at her as she sprawled out on her bedding, still gasping. "Sounds to me that Orochimaru's Army is about to attack the Shinobi Commander's Troops."

Sakura sat up looking at him with wide eyes. She wasn't too sure who the Shinobi Commander was but she had a feeling that it was Minato Uzumaki-Namikaze. "The Shinobi Commander? You mean, Master Minato-sama, right?" She asked tilting her head to the side.  
Neji nodded as he turned slightly looking at her now. He folded his arms to think about what to say. "Looks to me that we're about to enter the war." He saw Sakura tense up with alarm, making him shake his head. "Don't get afraid, Zaku. This is what we've been training for all year. I think we're all ready. Even you. You've learned quite a few new techniques that would save your life if you used them right. Especially that one that Gai-Sensai taught you."

Slowly, Sakura nodded. She knew that Neji was right. She had come this far, why not go all the way. After all, she was here for her father. She was here for the Fire Country. She knew that eventually this would happen. So no matter how terrified she was, she was going to fight this war with her men and they were going to win. They had to. It was for everyone's lives; her family's, her friends' lives, and for her honor.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews! **

Now in this chapter, things are going to start getting serious. There won't be very much comedy in this one, though there's a fair few. Sakura gets a first glance at what war really is. You shall see in this chapter.

**Read and Review, please!**

**Naruto-Heart of Honor: Ten**

The Shinobi Army had packed up everything the very next morning and they were on the move. All nearly 500 hundred of them, including Sakura and her friends. She was happy to say the least, no one still didn't realize that she was a girl but she was somewhat confused and annoyed of how Kakashi was completely ignoring her. A few times, she tried to get his attention to ask him a few questions of what was going to happen but he always found some way to avoid her. Whenever she tried to walk up to him, he would turn away and go talk to another Shinobi Elite, therefore she could not keep it up. In fact, he wouldn't even look at her. She was highly annoyed by how he was acting, and even more confused. She didn't understand why he was acting like that but two can play at that game. So she refused to look at him or talk to him right back. And when he did look at her, if he ever did, she would just glare off to the side, showing that she was angry. Of course, she wasn't sure if it was working.

Sakura also took the chance to borrow a few medical books from some of medic ninja that was with them. She found the medical field a little fascinating and had always wanted to know at least a few medical jutsu. So she studied from the books and occasionally tested a few of them out on Naruto, since he was dumb enough to let her test on him anyway. It didn't always work but after talking with some of the medics, she began to learn a little about medical jutsu.

For nearly five days the Shinobi Army trudged on, or ran through the trees trying to get to the Northern Village. And it seemed that all of the Elites were on edge, even Maito Gai. Whenever one of the guys, mostly Naruto, goofed off, they were immediately reprimanded for it. The Elite, Ibiki Morino was the worst when it came to yelling. He was such a strict man and it was kind of scary to Sakura and everyone when he started up. So hardly anyone goofed around.

Over the next few days, Sakura was doing a lot of thinking. About everyone. She had learned from most of the boys that they had unique stories that actually brought them to the army in the first place. Naruto was there because of his father and he wanted to be the best Shinobi ever, just like his father. He bragged on how he knew some "ultimately awesome" jutsu and promised that he would show it to Sakura some time. Oh he did show one to her, and then got yelled at by a few of the Elites for having such a disgusting and disgraceful jutsu, while mopping up blood from their noses. The jutsu that he showed everyone was something he called The Sexy Jutsu. It was a transformation of him into a lustrous and beautiful blonde woman, who also happened to be naked. Sakura couldn't stop blushing after seeing Naruto turn into a naked girl but was thankful that she had not been the only one who was blushing as hot red as a tomato.  
As for Shikamaru, he only joined the army because he was bored and was looking for adventure.  
However, he wasn't succeeding very well. It pretty much went the way of everyone else when she asked. They all answered that they were looking for adventure, honor or was just defending their Country. But the most unique story was Sasuke's, which she already knew because he told her.  
The other unique story was Rock Lee's. He told her and everyone else that he was actually adopted into the Maito Clan. Maito Gai had found Lee when he was just a very small boy, left in the street to starve. Because of Gai's large heart, he took pity on the boy and took him in. After that, they were the closest ever. Gai was not married, however and did not have his own children. Sakura wondered why and even tried to ask Lee why he wasn't married, but Lee just smiled and looked away. She also learned about some of the Elite's stories as well.

The Chunin, Iruka had lost his family when he was young to bandits and had been taken under the wing of the Hokage, himself. He was a well respected ninja and he even admitted to everyone that he was an Instructor at a Shinobi school.

Saturobi Asuma was actually related to the Hokage, as his nephew.

Morino Ibiki was in charge of the Interrogation, Retrieval and Torture Department when it came to enemies. His head, as he revealed, was completely covered in scars from his own tortured experience. So Sakura couldn't blame him for being so edgy around suspicious people, like her for one.

Gai was just a very excited person, who adored truth, beauty, youth and love. Now that Sakura actually thought about it, he seemed kind of…..well, in her opinion, he was one of the gayest people she had ever met. She liked him because he treated her with respect, probably because she was a beautiful person, and he was pretty nice to her.

But out of everyone in the entire camp, she wanted to know about Hatake Kakashi.

Kakashi was the most secretive person she had ever met. Sure, she had learned a little about him already but she wanted to know more. She wanted to find out the REAL Kakashi. He had already revealed to her that he was a person who respected love in a relationship, much like her. But what about his past? What exactly happened to him? And what about his family? She wanted to ask him but he was doing very well to avoiding her. So she decided to find another way of finding out.

And there was only one person she could think of that would know about Kakashi and wouldn't mind telling her about it.

"Maito-sensai." Sakura said as she approached the strange bowl cut Elite one night after they broke camp. She had been waiting a while for the Elite to finally be alone and with hardly no one around. She only caught up to him as he was making his way back to his tent. "Maito-sensai, can I speak to you about something?"

Gai frowned as he looked down at her before grinning as he gave her a thumbs up. "Zaku! Why, yes, young and beautiful boy! What is it you need to ask?" he asked in his strange and cheerful way. Sakura pulled a face as she stared up at him with dull look before deciding she wasn't going to say anything. She knew he was just being nice but talking in such a flowery way did get on her nerves. With a shrug, she rubbed her elbow as she looked sheepishly up at him. "I….um….well, I was just wondering something. Something…." She bit her lip as she glanced away then back at him. "Something about Hatake Kakashi."

"Hmm?" Gai asked now looking a little puzzled but interested. "What about him?" He was definitely interested in finding out why 'Zaku' was so interested about Kakashi. Of course, Inner Gai grinned as he came up with some thoughts. Some thoughts he knew that Kakashi would KILL him for. He nearly chuckled out loud as he rubbed his chin. Sakura frowned as she watched him dully, knowing he was thinking weird thoughts but she didn't dare to think about what he was thinking. She almost shuddered to think about it. "Well…..I was kind of wondering why he's the way he is? I mean, I know he's really strict and kind of mean sometimes but, I really…." She paused as she almost said that she saw a soft spot in Kakashi. She wasn't sure if Kakashi ever told Gai about their meeting a few weeks ago and he had showed her that he wasn't always such a omni. "I really believe that there's another side of him." She winced on how pathetic just she just made him sound.

Gai, however, just smiled as if he understood. He just folded his arms and slowly bobbed his head up and down. He knew something at least. "Ah, Kakashi, huh?" He asked before shrugging. "Well, I know the reason. Half of all of the Elites know the reason why Kakashi is the way he is. Has he ever told you about how he got the Sharingan? You know, his left eye; the red and black one?"

"Um, sort of. He said that his best friend gave it to him after he died. And that he had a first love who also died and all. Why? Is that it?" Sakura asked looking somewhat concerned.

The bowl haired Shinobi sighed as he looked away. "Well, that really did help a lot to make Kakashi the way he is. But that's not what started it. Tell me, do you know anything about the Hatake Clan?" He saw her shake her head and he then motioned for her to sit down the grass with him as he was already dropping down into a cross-legged position. He waited for her to join him before he began.  
"The reason why Kakashi is the way he is, why he's so strict and serious all the time is because of his father, Hatake Sakumo. Many years ago, before when Kakashi even first became a Genin of the Shinobi Academy, which you are now, he was always looked up to Sakumo. He always dreamed that he would become the Shinobi that man had been. Sakumo was also quite a hero in the Fire Country. As Namikaze Minato-sama is known as Konoha's Golden Flash, Sakumo was known as Konoha's White Fang. Like a wolf, he could get past any enemy and strike with such speed, almost as if a wolf would bite you. He was one of the most powerful fighters in all of the Land of Fire, much like Minato-sama. However," the so cheerful Shinobi was no longer cheerful as he thought about it. "Sakumo was serving a terrible mission while Kakashi was in training to become Shinobi. It was a Ranked S mission, one of the highest and most important missions in one of the enemy lands. He led a group of Shinobi to rescue a Lord's daughter and something terrible happened. Sakumo's men were caught by the enemy and were used against Sakumo. He was to make a decision. The Lord's daughter, whose family was very wealthy and were paying a lot of money for her return or for his men's lives. The money the Lord's family was paying was covering a lot of expenses for Konoha during a time in need. So we absolutely needed the money they were giving to us." He sighed again and shook his head. "Sakumo had to make a decision or lose both the girl and his men. And he made it."

Sakura felt as if the air had been knocked out of her lungs. She had a feeling that she knew what it was. "He chose the girl?"

Gai shook his head as he lowered his head a little. "No. He chose his men. He did what he could to save his beloved companions and it cost the life of the Lord's daughter. In rage, the Lord refused to fund anymore expenses for Konoha, putting us in great debt. The Shinobi sent to rescue the girl lived but they had failed the mission, costing a lot of money. They were all angry at Sakumo for costing the mission, and he was dishonored. The Hatake Clan was dishonored by several of the peoples of Konoha."

"Oh. That's not fair. Sakumo was just trying to save his friends." Sakura said with a sad sigh.

Gai only smiled faintly as he looked at the pink haired youth. "That's what most thought so too. Even the Hokage, himself. He thought that Sakumo may have cost the mission but he was doing what he thought was right. To save his friends, his most trusted companions. No one else actually agreed though. They shamed him for costing the village so much money. He was disgraced, as was his family. So not wanting to bring any more shame on Kakashi, making him suffer because he had a shameful father, Sakumo took his own life." He paused while making a face. "On Kakashi's graduation date from the Ninja Academy. And Kakashi watched the entire thing. He saw Sakumo take his own life."

Sakura looked at him with horror, her hand over her mouth. She couldn't help but just stare wide eyed at him as she slowly shook her head. She now understood why he was the way he was. She could not blame him at all. She could even dream of what it was like for him, to watch his father commit suicide in front of him. She knew that if it was her father, she would probably would have gone all emo-like much like how Sai was, though she didn't know his story yet. And she was somewhat afraid of finding out. But her attention was on Kakashi's story. She felt so sorry for him now. It was no wonder that he was so strict and serious about stuff like this. But then again, she had seen the soft side of him.

"You're starting to like Kakashi, aren't you?" Gai suddenly asked, breaking into her thoughts.

Sakura frowned as she looked up at him in surprise before blushing at what he said. "Huh?! No! Um, well, I'm respecting him a little more. I just wanted to know why he was so mean, you know?" She asked rubbing the back of her neck.

Gai just tiled his head to the side as he raised eyebrow. "Really?" He watched her nod before he pushed himself to his feet. "Well, he likes you. I can tell. He might act like heartless bastard sometimes but he's really not that bad." He shrugged smiling at her when saw her head tilt to the side in a confused way. "It'll be very interesting to see what happens from here. Especially on who he's paired up with." He then chuckled as he walked away. Very confused, Sakura just sat there for a long time before she decided she didn't want to think right now. She had learned a very vital piece of information about Kakashi and she didn't like it too much, but she was more understanding about the cool attitude of the Jounin. And this, however, made her start to like him.

After that, and the Shinobi Army were on the move again, she did talk to Neji about it, telling him of what Gai said about Kakashi. Neji didn't seem too interested about the Commander's past but he did seem a little interested about what his Instructor had said about how things were starting to change for Kakashi. In fact, he was smiling a very mischievous and smug smile as he looked at the ground. It made Sakura wonder what was so amusing.

"Okay, Neji. If you would be so kind of telling me why you're smirking, I'd greatly appreciate it." Sakura said dryly as they walked side by side.

Neji just smirked at her as they moved quickly over the forest foliage. He glanced around to see if anyone else was listening but it didn't seem like it. Everyone was doing their own thing. Naruto was entertaining most of their friends with a story, and was even trying to act it out before getting lectured for being a little loud by Iruka. "I don't think you're going to like what I have to say, Zaku." The Hyuuga Prodigy said, lazily looking back at her.

Sakura frowned at him, narrowing her eyes. "Oh, come on, Neji. Quit talking so cryptic and tell me." She told him moodily.

Neji shrugged as he leaned a little closer. "Okay. But you're not going to like it." He said before glancing around again then back. "All right. After what you told me before, about after talking to Kakashi after the river incident, I've been keeping my eye on Kakashi and watching him closely. And almost every day, he's been watching you. His one eye is always on you. Whenever you train, whenever you eat, or whatever you're doing with me, Naruto or anything. He's even looking at you right now." He told her.

There was a blush on Sakura's face but she took a quick peek towards Kakashi was talking to Asuma as they were in the front of everyone. His face was tilted a little to the side, so that she could see his revealing eye, but it wasn't really on her. "What are you talking about? He's not looking at me." Sakura whispered to Neji.

"Oh yes he is. He might not be now, but he's been glancing over his shoulder at you." Neji said with a smirk. "He doesn't want you to catch him looking at you. Just watch for a minute and you will catch him. Just talk to me or just move your lips as if you are talking to me. He'll think you are distracted so you won't notice."

Sakura just frowned but then shrugged. "Okay, whatever." She kept her eyes on Kakashi but tilted her head towards Neji as if she was talking to him. "Um, well, I'm working on my jutsu. I have been practicing with you and Lee, which is kind of weird still. Lee is so weird, kind of like Gai-sensai." She said just random stuff while waiting to see if Neji was right or now. She heard him snicker but she still didn't take her eyes off of Kakashi. And that's when it did happen.

Kakashi looked her way.

His head actually tilted a little farther so he would look over his shoulder at the Genin behind him but she could have sworn that his eye was on her. And just actually make sure, she turned her head at the same time he did to lock eyes with him. The Commander froze for a few seconds, looking right into her emerald eyes before quickly looking away as if Asuma had said something to him, but the thing was, the Jounin was already conversing with Genma.

"Oh my." Sakura breathed out with a little panic. "He was looking at me."

Neji snorted as he folded his arms as he kept walking. "I told you. He's been doing that quite a bit lately. Every day." He told her. Sakura looked rather pale at the thought. She was obviously not on the same page as Neji though. "Oh! You don't think he's figured out about me, do you?" She asked with worry.

"….." Neji said now looking dully at her but he didn't blame her for thinking that. He actually expected her to think that, though that was not what he meant. "No. I don't think he has. He still thinks you're a boy, like everyone else. Except Shino that is." He turned his head looking towards the bug boy, smirking. "Why don't you come over here now, Shino?"

Sakura went very pale at hearing that and she nearly whirled her head around on her shoulders to look at Shino, who was standing a fair few feet away from them. He was actually a little farther than she expected and was alarmed to see him turn his head towards her and Neji. It was as if he actually heard Neji, when he had spoken so softly. But apparently he had because the bug boy just stared at them for a few seconds before walking over, ignoring the panicking squeaks in Sakura was making. "….y-you….." she squeaked. "You….yo-you knew too?!"

"My bugs did." Shino said in a very quite voice. "They only just told me a few weeks ago."

Neji shook his head as he tilted his head to the side, still smiling. "Exactly how did they know?" He asked, knowing that Sakura was shouting that question in her mind too. She was very pale and sweating with nervousness. Shino, on the other hand just reached up to his ear and a few beetles actually hopped right out onto his finger, freaking Sakura out a little. "These guys told me. They could sense the scent on Zaku and they enlightened me of what he was." He tilted his head towards the pink haired Genin, when she squeaked but he shook his head. "I have not told anyone. Relax."

"Wh-why didn't you…..tell us….or…." Sakura asked nervously.

Shino just shook his head as he walked beside them. He didn't look like he was going to answer for a moment but then he tilted his head towards her again. "My answer is probably the same as Neji's." He said quietly. "It's not my secret to tell and you probably have a reason why you are here. So I, like Neji, will not say anything but keep your secret to ourselves." He told her. Sakura felt herself smile with a little relief. She was feeling a little better that another person had figured out her secret and promised not to tell. So instead, she turned back to Neji. "Okay. Well, now that's settled. Why do you think that Kakashi's been staring at me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Shino suddenly said, making her look back at him. "He's been looking at you because he's attracted to you."

Many times had Sakura blushed, but all of those times, she had never gone as red as she was now. Her face practically matched the meaning of her name. She was as bright red as a cherry. Even her ears went red as she stared wide eyed at Shino and then noticed that Neji was slowly nodding as if he agreed. She went even redder before wiping her face to try and get rid of the blush. "Oh very funny!" She scowled at them. Both young men shook their heads as they were looking seriously at her. Neither one were laughing, nor smiling. They were trying to tell her that they weren't joking at all. "B-but….you have got to be kidding. Kakashi……and me…..! But he hates me!"

"Zaku, if you hadn't actually noticed, but you are beautiful. Everyone can see that, even if they can't figure out that you're not a boy. And as you know, I can see through objects. Since the night at the river, I've noticed that when Kakashi looks at you, his blood starts to heat up and his heart starts to thump harder. He likes you, all right?" Neji said in a quiet tone, yet there was a dull ring in there. Shino just slowly nodded in agreement. "And my beetles are very keen to pheromones. They've told me that he's attracted to you. And as you know, males and females have pheromones. Every time he looks at you, his have been jumping a little high."

Sakura still looked trouble. "But I'm…..I've been pretending to be….." She was saying.

Neji slowly nodded as if he knew what she was going to say. He agreed to it too. He knew he'd figured out why Kakashi has been avoiding her. "Yes. You've been pretending to be a boy. And Kakashi certainly thinks you are a boy. So he thinks he's turning gay because he's attracted to you. That's why he's been avoiding you." He almost laughed when Sakura went pale. "I'm glad you've caught on.

"Oh." Sakura sighed as she realized it all. She couldn't believe it. Hatake Kakashi was attracted to her. Now it all made sense. It made sense to her of why Kakashi had practically ran away from her that night or why he had handed her training over to Maito Gai. She knew now why he was avoiding her. Because he was trying not to fall for another male, even though she was not a boy. She might have been pretending to be a boy, but her girlish ways were still showing. And now, she was messing with Kakashi's head without realizing it. "Oh no. I'm going to have to tell him. That's totally not fair of me. I am messing Kakashi up."

Both Neji and Shino looked at her with mild surprise before frowning. They weren't entirely sure of what she was thinking but they knew if she told Kakashi the truth, of who and what she was, there would be serious trouble. "If you tell him, he might kill you, Zaku. He's going to get mad." The long haired Shinobi told her. Sakura only shook her head as she stared wide eyed at him. "Yeah, but I can't do this to him! I'm making him feel gay! That is sooooo wrong!" Sakura argued. She just shook her head, when the two kept shaking their heads and even started to open her mouth to argue but Neji quickly rose a hand to silence her. She frowned but then looked forward when she realized everyone had stopped. And after taking in the scenery before them, she knew why. She even froze, her eyes widening with horror.

Before the entire Shinobi Army, there as the village they had been trying to get to. Only it wasn't a village anymore. It was all in ruins. All of the buildings, all of the roads, everything was destroyed. The wood was burned and somewhat still smoking as if the fires had only just gone out. There were dead bodies all over the place; Shinobi and civilians alike. Some were smoking as if they had been on fire. But everything was gone. The village was destroyed.

"Oh my….." Sakura breathed uneasily as she just stood there with everyone. She couldn't believe what she was looking at. It was such a disaster that she had never dreamed about. Did….did Orochimaru's Army do this?

In the front of the Shinobi, Kakashi and the Elites looked around slowly with the same amount of horror that was on their men's faces. They had seen plenty of death and destruction before but this was pretty bad. For they could see children among the dead as well, along with women. It was nothing but chaos. Beside Kakashi, Iruka moved forward a little, looking around with pain. "Did….did Orochimaru do all of this? How….how could he do this?"

"He did it because he's a monster, Iruka." Kakashi spoke in deadly tone as he looked around. He breathed out a sigh as he shook his head. "Orochimaru destroys everything he wants to. We should have been expecting this. We all knew that this was going to happen." He told everyone.

Gai moved forward, his body entirely tensed up as he looked down at the fallen bodies of children. Everyone knew that was what was hitting him the hardest. Gai had a very strong bond with children and he hated to see any child get hurt, or worst. The other Shinobi, Elites and Genin, could see that there was a lot of pain in his eyes. "That...is there any survivors?"

Ibiki slowly shook his head as he looked around with a very grave look. "I doubt it. Orochimaru never does anything by the half. I can be you that every man, woman and child has been killed." He said darkly. Kakashi slowly shook his head as he let his eye scan the area before he turned around and faced the entire army. His eye was very dark with grief, but was a lot stronger than the others. "I still want to make sure. Everyone spread out and scan the area. Locate that may be alive and if there is any, alert a medic right away. Medics, jump right into healing any wounded immediately. There are plenty of soldier pills if you need any but if there are any survivors, we want to save them right away." He then motioned to everyone. "Move out now."

Immediately all of the Shinobi jumped forward and began running through the ruins, checking the dead bodies to see if they really were dead. But so far, no such luck. There didn't seem to be a single person alive in the village. Besides Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto just stared around the ruined village while everyone else was searching for survivors. There was a stabbing pang in the pink haired girl's heart though as she looked down to see a pair of dead eyes looking up at her; a pair of a child's eyes. She felt a sour taste in her mouth to see such a thing. 'Orochimaru truly is a monster.' She thought bitterly as she clenched her fists.

And then a hand gently laid on her shoulder, startling her out of her bitter thoughts.

Sakura looked up to see Kakashi actually acknowledging her existence for the first time in weeks. He must have seen the way she had been glaring off a few moments ago and knew what she was thinking. His one eye looked into hers with a little pain before he looked away again.

"Kakashi-sensai," Naruto suddenly spoke up, making both look over at him. Out of everyone, he looked the most worried as he frantically looked around. "If my father was suppose to be stationed here, where was he? I don't understand! Why wasn't he here?" He asked full of pain. Kakashi slowly shook his head as he looked around, trying to scan the area. He recognized some of the dead Shinobi, knowing that they were apart of Minato's troops. So Minato had to be there somewhere. But if so, he must have been dead. That brought a very stabbing pain to Sakura's heart to think the same thing that Kakashi was probably. She did not want the friendly man to be dead. She was already moving quickly forward as the thought even first came to her mind. She had caught a quick glance of the look of surprise on Kakashi and Naruto's faces but neither one followed after her.

Sakura was running through the ruins, searching frantically for any sign of the Shinobi who had been kind to her. She could feel her heart pounding hard against her chest and her blood was pumping in her veins. She had so many thoughts going through her mind. She refused to think that something bad had happened to Uzumaki-Namikaze Minato. She refused it. He HAD to be okay. Frantically, her eyes sped over the ruins, looking at the dead and ignoring some of her friends' cries to her. She just kept looking, throwing debris out of the way to look under. But so far, nothing.

And then, she saw the flash of gold.

The pink haired girl came to a screeching halt when she saw it and had to do a double take but she realized what it was. Her heart nearly stopped when she found him. She had almost missed seeing him because he was covered in blood but he was there. Lying on a makeshift cross, which brought him to his knees but it was clear that he was not on his knees by choice. The cross was holding him up, probably to help make him bleed to death.

Problem was, Minato looked dead already.

With a sharp gasp, Sakura was running over to him, her eyes filling with tears as she saw how bad of shape he was in. She was quickly at his side, throwing herself to her knees to be leveled with him. She felt a sob starting to rise out of her as she looked Minato over. He was so pale; deathly pale and his eyes were closed. His Shinobi outfit was drenched in his own blood, and his usually white sleeveless robe was stained reddish-brown. He had several gashes everywhere on his person, including on his cheek and forehead, where his forehead protector was missing. So it was clear that it had been taken. Maybe tossed somewhere in the debris of death.  
"No!" Sakura gasped as she looked him over before shaking her head. She had tears spilling down her cheeks but she quickly brushed them away.  
This was not the time for tears. She had to get him off the cross. She tried hard to start untying him but the knots in the rope were too tight and her hands were trembling terribly. "Pl-please, Minato-sama! Please don't be dead!" She begged as she fought with the rope but had trouble. After several minutes, she broke down in tears and collapsed against his bloody shoulder. She began to sob as she trembled against his body. "No! Please wake up!"

"…..Ugh…"

Sakura's head snapped up when she heard the low and weak groan escape from Minato's throat. She looked wide eyed up at him only to see that pools of faded blue were now peering through the heavy eyelids. And they were on her. She could now fell a light breath against her cheek and could see that his chest was slowly falling and rising. But he was alive! Sakura quickly rose up onto her knees and looked into his eyes with shock and disbelief. She couldn't believe it. He was alive!

"Mas-Master Minato!" Sakura gasped as she clutched onto his bloodied robes. "You're alive!"

Minato groaned in pain and his face twisted with agony. His head tilted back until it touched the back of the cross but then it dropped down again. He did not have very much strength at all. Sakura quickly drew back her hands with a sharp gasp. "Oh! I'm sorry!" She yelped before she quickly took out her kunai and began sawing away at the rope. "Hold on! I'll get you down!" She told him as she began to work.

"……" Minato groaned again before weakly opening one eye and looking at her. It took him a long moment to finally recognize her but when he did, his lips curved upward. "…..Sak-Sakura-kun……so it is you……I….I thought I was dreaming……" He whispered way too quietly.

Sakura only glanced at him before she had one arm free and then she began working on the other. She made him place his free arm on her shoulder as she tried to keep him upward. Finally, he was freed and she gently set him down on the ground before quickly looking at the wounds on his body. The gashes were pretty bad though. They were so deep that Sakura could see the muscles within. "Oh! You really need a medic right now! Hold on and I'll…." She was saying as she stood up.

But Minato quickly lashed out and caught her wrist, as he breathed in painfully. "It's…too late for me, Sakura-kun." He whispered painfully. "But….it's not….t-too late for the Hokage….." He winced again.

Sakura gave him a very serious look as she bent down beside him and shook her head. "Do not tell me it's too late for you, Minato-sama." She said fiercely before she tried to recall everything she had read from the medical books. She was not going to lose this man. He had been too kind to her as it was and now it was time to pay him back by saving his life. She pulled open his jacket so she could get a good look at his bare chest. It didn't look any better but she had to try and help him. So after she quickly recalled her medical studies before she began trying to collect her chakra into her hands like she learned from the books and some of the medics. Taking a deep breath, she tried her hardest to start pushing some of it into the gash her hand was covering. She had to concentrate really hard on the worst looking gash, which was in the center of Minato's chest. Sakura gritted her teeth tightly as she worked as hard as she could on it.

All the while, Minato was wincing and groaning in pain for her even touching it. But he was also watching her as she tried to work on him, even though through his heavy eyes. He lift his head a little higher when he noticed the forehead protector around her forehead. "…hmm." He hummed sounding a little pleasant. "……you….kept your promise……"

When he spoke, it almost made Sakura lose her concentration but she quickly went back to concentrating on the gash. "I'm sorry, Master?" She asked in a whisper. Minato weakly reached up and touched the metal of her forehead protector with one finger, looking at his reflection in it. "You…..kept your pro-promise. You…became a Shinobi…….I knew you could do it……" He told her before dropping his hand down back down to his side, his eyes closing again. That scared Sakura a little but she still could see him breathing. She just kept on concentrating on trying to heal the gash. At first, it was not working. She almost came to tears when she saw it not working. But remembering Kakashi's words from several months ago, before she even became Shinobi, she knew she needed determination. So she began to gather all of the determination that she had and kept on trying. And to her relief, the gash started to close up.

"DAD!!"

Sakura really did lose concentration that time. She nearly jumped as she spun away from Minato, only to see Naruto racing towards them, his face very pale and his eyes had gone very wide. Behind him was Kakashi with several of the Elites but they were all racing towards her after Naruto. They realized exactly who Sakura was right by. By the looks of it, Naruto would have kept running and would have run into Sakura, if Iruka hadn't moved forward and caught his arm, holding him back.

The blonde tried to break loose but he wouldn't let go. "Lemme go! That's my dad! Let me see him!" Naruto demanded.

"Naruto," Sakura said sharply as she turned back to Minato and placed her hands back onto the gash. "Minato-sama is not in good shape right now. I need to concentrate so shut up." She told him. She could feel his burning gaze into her back but she ignored him. She only glanced over her shoulder when Kakashi joined her side, looking Minato over, whose eyes were closed. She felt her body tense but she decided to shake it off. She needed to save Minato, not pay any attention to the silver haired man beside her.

"Master." Kakashi sighed as looked the Shinobi over. Then he looked at Sakura with a frown. "Zaku, how are you healing him? I didn't know you knew any medical jutsu."

One of the medics moved forward, shaking his head. It was one of the few that had actually took the time to teach her some medical jutsu. "He's been borrowing a few of the medic books, Hatake-sama. He had asked me if it would be all right if he did a little night reading and so I let him take a few of my books." He shrugged. "Zaku actually became very interested in the medical field and I have been showing him some techniques." He told the Elite. Sakura only nodded as she went back to concentrating very hard on trying to get the worst of the gashes all sealed up. "I just want to help out as much as I can, Kakashi……um, sensai." She added quickly before she breathed out easily when the gash was finished. She immediately began working on the next.

"He is still alive, right?" Ibiki asked as he moved forward.

Sakura just nodded as she quickly wiped sweat off her brow before going back to concentrating on sealing up the next one. "I found him on that cross over there," She motioned to the cross standing not too far from them. "I thought he was dead at first but then he started moving. He woke up for a minute and talked to me but he was really weak. He tried to tell me to not even bother because it was too late for him but I AM NOT going to give up on him." She said through gritted teeth.

Beside her, Kakashi looked at her with mild surprise before his face softened. He was definitely starting to understand this "young man" a lot more than he used to. But it still made him a little uneasy that this was a boy, or at least he thought it was.

"Kak-Kakashi……" Minato spoke.

Kakashi's head jerked and he looked down to see that Minato's eyes were open again, but just barely. He ignored the alarmed cry from Naruto who was still being held back by Iruka. He just moved a little closer, reaching down and touching his former sensai's shoulder. "Minato-senpai." The Shinobi Elite said, almost in relief but there was still a lot of concern in his tone. "Who did this to you?"

Minato faintly chuckled which turned into a painful cough and he winced. "Do….do you really….need to ask, Ka-kashi?" He asked weakly before his eyes flickered over to his son and he faintly smiled. "It's…..okay, Naruto. I think I'll be okay now. Thanks to….." he paused to look at Sakura, who met his eyes. "….Thanks to Zaku, here." He frowned as he looked back up at Kakashi. "Kakashi, as you…might have guessed, this village was destroyed by Orochimaru and his men. They were bored, as Orochimaru told me as he had his giant snake." He winced again at the throbbing pain in his side. "They're heading for Konoha now. They've decided that they wanted to attack the Hokage-sama when he wasn't expecting it. You mustn't worry too much about me. You and the army must get to the Hokage before Orochimaru does. Protect him and Konoha's people as much as you can."

"Don't be a baka, master." Kakashi said before motioning to the other medics. "We're not going to leave you here to die." He turned to the medics as they moved forward. "We will be emptying one of the carts to carry Namikaze-sama. He's coming with us."

The medics bowed to him and immediately jumped to work, except the one who had claimed to teach Sakura. He actually moved forward and bent down on Minato's other side to help her heal the Shinobi. Kakashi looked at Sakura, before reaching up and patting her on the shoulder. "Good job, Zaku. You did real well." Then he stood up and turned to the others, giving the orders to empty one of the supply carts and make a carrier out of it for Minato, who immediately they began to jump to it. Then the silver white haired Elite turned to Naruto, who was still staring at his father with worry. "He'll be fine, Naruto. Zaku's just saved his life." He patted the blonde on the shoulder than went back to searching for more survivors.

Sakura turned a little to look up at her blonde friend, who slowly met her eyes. They stared at one another for a long moment before they smiled at one another. Naruto slowly nodded as he gave her a thankful smile. "Thanks, Zaku." He said before going over and kneeling by his side.


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews! **

Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for. The big fight. Sakura is going to see what real war is all about and she will have to make decisions that might reveal her true identity. One thing's for sure, this will be the toughest thing she will ever have to go through.

**Read and Review, please!**

**Naruto-Heart of Honor: Eleven**

After almost two hours of searching throughout the entire village, the Shinobi could not find any more survivors. The entire village had been massacred and there were no more of Minato's men alive. Minato was the only survivor, and even he was in terrible shape. Sakura had finally run out of chakra to heal him with and was extremely tired. She could barely walk after finishing healing him and letting the other medic take over. And she almost fell over if Kakashi hadn't caught her. He had been walking over to see how healing Minato was coming along and she had been trying to stand up at the time.

Unfortunately, her knees gave out under her and she fell backwards right into Kakashi, forcing him to wrap his arms around her to keep her from hitting the ground. She went very red after realizing who had caught her. "OH! Sorry, Kakashi…….um, Kakashi-sensai." She added sensai quickly.

"It's all right. You must be pretty tired after using all of your chakra on Minato-sama." Kakashi said, but it was clear that he was somewhat blushing himself.

And luckily no one was really near by, other than Neji and Shino. They had been trying to clear out some of the supplies from the cart and when they saw the reaction between the two. Smiling smugly, they promised their selves they would give Sakura a hard time about it later.

And they did.

Around dusk, after moving out from the village, they made camp at the foot of the mountains where they needed to cross to get back in the valley where Konoha Village was sitting. Sakura didn't really have much of an appetite after all the chaos she had seen, and neither did most of the Shinobi. They didn't eat very much but just went to rest. Even Kakashi and the Elites had to give them a break for it. But they ordered that once everyone was rested, they really needed to press forward.

"We're Konoha's last hope now. Minato's best ANBU were killed and he was seriously hurt. He could have died if it wasn't for Haruno Zaku finding him and getting to work straight a way." Kakashi told everyone as they were leaving the ruined village.

But as Sakura made her way to her tent, Neji and Shino caught up to her, both smirking at her. She knew something was up but she decided she would take their stupid jokes. "All right. What's so funny? Let's laugh it up now." She told them moodily. Both Neji and Shino shook their heads as they walked with her to their tents. "Oh, we're not going to say anything, Zaku." The Hyuuga Prodigy said as he picked up his pace.  
"Only that you looked rather comfy in Kakashi's arms when he caught you from falling to the ground, that's all." The bug boy said quietly before he went straight to his tent. That remark just made Sakura freeze in her tracks and nearly stand there for about ten minutes, blushing hot red. She swore she would make them pay for that. But she would have to come up with something very good because they could easily black mail her with what they knew about her.

The next few days, Sakura mostly walked beside the cart that was carrying Minato. She wanted to keep an eye on him, waiting for him to wake up. He hadn't been conscious for those few days, but resting as his strength was slowly coming back. She really wanted to talk to him, tell him all about her training and what she had learned. She hardly left the cart's side, waiting for Minato to wake up. Because of the death toll at the village, no one spoke as they walked. No one had said a word, even Naruto, who was also walking beside the cart. He made a few glances over at Sakura, but said nothing. He was grateful for what she tried to do. But now it was up to Minato to heal himself.

"Zaku."

Sakura blinked out of her thoughts before looking up to see Kakashi walking close to her. His one eye was on her now, but his face was tilting forward. "Oh. Kakashi….sensai. Um…." The pink haired girl said touching her lip with a frown. "Ca-Can I help you? Was there something you needed?"

Slowly, Kakashi nodded as he turned his gaze towards the cart now. He was quiet for a moment before looking back at her. "I would like to thank for what you did for Minato-sama. You really did something honorable, you know that?" He told her in a quiet tone. He tilted his head to the side as he looked right at her, but there was no doubt a smile under his mask. "And I really appreciate it for what you did. He's like a father to me." He told her. Sakura then made a face as she instantly remembered what Gai had told her about Kakashi's father. She wondered what Kakashi would say if he found out that his "Eternal Rival" told someone, her, about his past. But before she could even say anything about it, he walked on to speak to Ibiki about where they were going to set up camp next. She watched him go but then felt a smile slowly starting to curl on her lips. She was starting to like Kakashi, she knew that she did. He might have been really stubborn and really strict, but he really did have his soft side.

"Hem-hem."

The pink haired girl frowned before looking over to see Neji and Shino smirking at her again. She groaned already knowing that they were going to tease her again. "Shut it. I don't want to hear it." She told them with a raised hand between her face and them. Both young men just chuckled as they looked at one another before walking on.

Another day passed, and the whole Shinobi Army was climbing up the mountain and going through rocky crevices. It wasn't easy pulling some of the carts through them but all of them managed. Sakura still spent most of her time by the cart with Minato, who had still yet to wake up. She was really starting to worry now. It had almost been four days since they even found him and he hadn't stirred once. He was still alive and that brought much relief to everyone. But it would have made them all feel better if he would only just wake up. Sakura also found herself thinking about Kakashi a lot as she watched him lead the Shinobi. She wondered exactly what he really looked like without that mask. She had yet to see him without it. As did everyone else. But she was pretty sure he was a handsome fellow. How could he not be? He was handsome even while wearing it. This did bring a few disturbing thoughts to her mind and when she started blushing, Neji and Shino would immediately appear and tease her about it.

Finally, only a few days away from Konoha, things really went haywire for the Shinobi Army.

It was a rather cloudy day, and it looked like it was going to rain. The wind was light though and that was a relief. Everyone was almost as quiet as death itself. The only noise that could be heard was their feet on the ground and the creaking of the cart wheels. Occasionally, someone coughed or started talking in low voices but they immediately shushed when the Elites shot them a look. Everyone was on edge. Sakura was walking close to Neji and Shino, when she saw them both tense. She even heard some of Shino's bugs starting to chirp or click, as if sending a warning. As for Neji, he immediately halted before lashing out and grabbing Sakura. "Stop!" He yelled to everyone. Immediately, everyone froze in their tracks and turned sharply around with their hands on their kunai. They were definitely on edge!

"What's up, Neji?" Naruto asked as he moved towards the long haired Shinobi and the pink haired one.

Neji let out an angry hiss before he lurched forward, shoving the blonde hard. "Not there, you bakamono!" He yelled before leaping back while trying to pull Sakura back with him. Shino was already moving back, too, as if he knew what had Neji so tense. Even Akamaru was whining to Kiba, whose eyes widened with surprise.

Before anyone knew it, there was a loud explosion, sending anyone close to where Sakura, Neji, Naruto and Shino had been flying in different directions. It was a small explosion but it still knocked them backwards off their feet. Dust and debris went flying everywhere, pelting those not too far away. Several of the Shinobi had cried out in alarm before they started hacking and coughing up dust.  
A few moments later, the dust was blown away and there was a small crater right where Naruto had used to be before he was knocked onto his back. Kakashi hurried over, frowning, while his eye went straight to the person nearest to the hole. Sakura. "What happened?!" He demanded.

Sakura looked wide eyed up at him as she sat up but she shook her head. She had no idea what just happened. She couldn't answer that question. "I….um……"

"You just gave away our position, Haruno! There could be enemy scouts near by!" Kakashi said sternly. Neji quickly moved forward shaking his head as he grabbed Sakura's arm and helped her to her feet. "It's not his fault. There are ground bombs all over the place. At least ten from what I can see." He told him. Kakashi and most of the other Shinobi tensed but they immediately jumped right into action. They knew that wasn't very good. "All right. Spread out and carefully locate the bombs. If you can, deactivate them. If you can't, mark the ground near it so we can just go around it." Kakashi ordered everyone. All of the Shinobi nodded as they began the quick sweep of the area while Sakura just dusted herself off.

"Zaku," Kakashi spoke, catchign her attention. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn't have done that."

Sakura only smiled at him as she shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I know why you did it. I don't blame you." She told him before she quickly went to join the others to looking around. She was glad that no one got hurt though Naruto was whining about having dirt in his eye. Otherwise, everyone was okay. She looked up when she heard movement from Minato's cart and gave a sharp gasp when she saw him finally awake. He was holding himself up by an elbow and looking out of the tent that the medics had pitched on top of the cart. "Minato-sama." She said as she hurried back to the side of the cart. She saw Kakashi quickly following, along with Naruto.

"Minato-senpai." Kakashi said as he approached. "How are you feeling?"

Minato just shook his shaggy blonde head as he let his eyes look everything over then leaned more out of the tent. "What's going on?" He asked, sounding very tired. Kakashi shook his head as he turned and surveyed the area. Though his mask hid it, he was frowning. "Traps, Master. Looks like Orochimaru……."

Suddenly there was a loud whistle, making both Minato and Kakashi spin around, the silver white haired Elite quickly pushed past Sakura and raised an arm, which the thrown kunai struck. Blood immediately went flying with the blade struck through Kakashi's arm, almost going through. The Elite only grunted in mild pain before yanking it back out. Every one of the Shinobi spun around only to see a rain of Kunai and shruiken falling towards them. Immediately, everyone began dodging the blades, though few were not so lucky. Even Minato had to dodge. He threw himself head first right out of the tent, rolling a little as he hit the rocky ground before a large shruiken cut right into the tent. Sakura quickly bent down to help him up, but he was still rather weak.

"Everyone! Get out of range! Take cover!" Kakashi bellowed as he grabbed Minato's other arm and helped her drag him to a safer distance.

The rain of blades stopped though.

For a long, uncomfortable moment, all of the Shinobi who had not been killed or injured stood glaring up at the cliff side several yards away, waiting for the attack. Sakura was looking wild eyed up at the cliffs, almost terrified about what just happened but she was keeping Minato on his feet, who was breathing rather hard. He was still weak and tired from his long recovery.

Finally, after a while, someone appeared on top of the cliff, looking down at them with his cruel smirk. He was followed by several of his men, all sneering as they looked down at them. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Lost leaves, hmm?"

Sakura felt a shiver run right up her spine when she heard that voice. And felt her heart nearly stop when she saw him. She had never seen a man like him. Her eyes grew wider as she looked at his pale skin, how skinny he was, but the evil in his eyes was what scared her the most. It was like looking in the eyes of a poisonous snake. This must have been Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru!" Several of the Shinobi yelled in rage and hatred, mostly the Shinobi Elites.

Beside Sakura, she heard Naruto breath in deeply and she glanced over to see how alarmed he looked. She couldn't blame him. She must have shared the very same look on her own face. "That's Orochimaru?" She whispered. She saw Minato nod as he looked up at the pale ninja. He wasn't looking very happy at all to see the man but there was definitely strength in his eyes, even if there wasn't any for him physically. "That's him. He might not look much, but he's extremely dangerous. Do not turn your back on him if you end up facing him." He told her in a low voice.

Above them Orochimaru was looking all of them over, his eyes pausing on a few, such as Sasuke or Naruto. But they froze on Minato. He was surprised to see the golden haired Shinobi still alive. And it was clear that he was because of the look on his face. Even some of his men and the Shinobi had seen that look. And in a way, his men shared his surprised. They had watched their master fight Minato, with the help of his giant snakes. They had watched him nearly kill the Legendary ninja. But here he was, alive.

"You……you're still alive?" Orochimaru asked as he eyed Minato with distaste.

A few of the Shinobi Elites glanced over at the golden blonde haired Shinobi, who was still looking rather tired but trying to be as serious as ever. Even Sakura glanced up at him, but frowned even more when she heard his raspy breathing. She knew that he was very tired and feeling weak. This excitement was not good for him. Not right now. This was a bad time to run into Orochimaru and his men. So with a determined frown, she stepped forward and to the side to stand right in front of Minato, her eyes looking at the pale enemy. And for the first time, Orochimaru noticed her. He frowned as he looked her over, tilting his head over. He looked rather confused before a certain glint sparked up in his eye. As if he just realized something. His eyes turned to Kakashi next. "Well, Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja of Konoha. I had heard that you were in charge of this pathetic group of Shinobi. So how is the son of the most disgraced Shinobi? Are you following in The White Fang's footsteps?" He asked in an amused hiss.

Sakura looked over at Kakashi, to see that his face only grew very hard at Orochimaru's words. But it had hit him a little. She had seen his eye flinch. So with her fists clenched tight, she looked back at the pale remark. "Shut up, you monster!" She found herself shout.

Several eyes shot towards her, including Kakashi's; all looking rather stunned that she had even spoken to the tyrant like that. None of them believed it. Minato just merely glanced at her with only little surprise. He knew it wasn't smart of her to talk to Orochimaru like that. But he did find it rather amusing how she did not look afraid at all. Foolish, but amusing.

"…….What did you say to me?" Orochimaru hissed, definitely not amused.

Sakura gave him a fierce look as she dipped her head a little. She looked rather dangerous when she did that. And there was definitely a dangerous glint in her eyes. "I said," She said slowly. "Shut up, you monster. Don't you dare talk to Kakashi-sama like that! Especially about his father, Hatake Sakumo! That man should have never been disgraced! He was a hero then, and he is a hero now! Kakashi is the same way! You, on the other hand, are a monster and a tyrant! And you will pay for what you did to our fellow Shinobi!" She immediately snapped into a fighting stance. "And you will not touch our Honorable Hokage!"

Several of the other Shinobi just smiled at her determination. They were definitely impressed. The girl they thought that was a boy definitely had spunk. Immediately, Sakura's friends snapped into a fighting stance, ready to fight.

"Hah! You got that right, Zaku!" Naruto cheered as he rose his fists in front of him and glared up at the enemy's army. "Hey, snake man! I'm gonna kill you for trying to kill my dad!" And at his words, several of the other young men cheered their agreements and threw their fists into the air. They were ready for a fight and they were not going to lose.

Orochimaru had definitely lost all amusement. He gave the entire Shinobi a very cold look before he threw out his hand to the side and motioned for his army to move in. "Kill all of them, but the pink haired one. I'm curious about that one." He ordered. All of his ninja yelled, "Hai!" before they jumped down and lunged at their enemies.

"All right! This is it, men! Remember your training!" Kakashi yelled as he started forward. "But you might have to go for the kill! Do not hold back on your enemy, for they will kill you if you do!" Everyone nodded and rushed forward to meet an opponent. "Zaku, protect Minato-sama!" Kakashi yelled over his shoulder.

Sakura nodded as she grabbed Minato's arm and pulled him to a more open area where she thought would be safe. She had to stop as two Sound Ninja jumped right in front of her, blocking their path. She felt Minato grab her arm and start to pull her back to protect her but she immediately resisted and faced the ninja with raised fists. It was time to show the kind blonde how much she had grown over the six months. The Sound ninja only laughed before charging at her, with kunai in hand. And she rushed forward to meet them.

"Zaku!" Minato yelled in alarm but then was surprised when Sakura quickly ducked under swinging kunai.

Sakura was moving at an incredible speed as she dodged the blades flying at her before she ducked under a fist from one of the Sound. With a smirk on her face, she threw a punch right into his jaw and felt the satisfaction of hearing a loud crack, proving she had just broke his jaw. The Sound ninja nearly went flying twenty feet up into the air before coming down with a loud crash nearly thirty away, and taking a few of his companions with him. Any of her friends who had seen it, just stared at her with shock and disbelief while big fat sweat drops on their foreheads. Even Minato looked rather surprised.

Kakashi had seen what "Haruno Zaku" had done too. With surprise, he looked over at Gai as he was attacking a few of the Sound Ninja. "Gai, what in the heck did you teach him?"

"You told me to make him strong, so I did. Impressed?" Gai called over grinning. But Kakashi didn't answer as he went on fighting. "I bet you're really starting to like him, though." The Taijutsu expert said grinning to himself. This caused Kakashi to quickly pick up a rock and throw it at his back, which met its mark. "Ow!

Sakura, on the other hand, was doing very well as she began pounding the crap out of the other Sound Shinobi, who had been stunned after seeing his partner getting hit like he did. She was very aware that Minato was watching her fight and she couldn't help but smirk as she was winning.

Just then another Sound Ninja jumped down right behind her when she had been too busy beating up the other one. Without any warning, he grabbed her arms and yanked them right behind her back so that she couldn't defend herself. Sakura couldn't stop the alarmed cry from escaping her as she whipped her head around to look wide eyed at him. He was only sneering as he nodded to his comrade. "Come on, man! Hit him!" He urged the other Sound Ninja, who grinned wickedly right back and moved forward with a fist raised.

Suddenly there was a flash of yellow right before them and Sakura was released immediately. She yelped when she almost fell forward to the ground if it weren't someone grabbing her arm. She heard both of the Sound Ninja cry out in pain before they fell to the ground with kunai stuck in their throats. Alarmed, she looked up to see Minato, glaring hard down at the fallen men before looking at her.

"Are you all right, Sakura?" He asked in a low voice.

Sakura nodded as she straightened herself before looking down. She was definitely surprised by how fast Minato really was. She was now starting to understand why he was called the Golden Flash. "Yeah."

Minato just nodded before doubling over and placing a hand over one of his many scars on his abdomen. Immediately, Sakura caught his arm to keep him standing. "Damn it. I'm still a little weak. Not all of my strength has returned but I can't just leave everyone to fight alone." He looked back around real quick before looking back at Sakura. "Don't worry about me. I have enough strength to defend myself. Just start fighting. Help Kakashi, if you must. But do not go near Orochimaru. You are no match for him." He told her.

"All right. But please be careful, Minato-sama." Sakura said looking a little worried.

Minato just smiled at her before reaching up and gently pushing her bangs out of her eyes. "You are some girl, you know that, Haruno. Whoever is paired up with you will be very lucky." Then he gave her a light push. "Now go fight! And be careful!"

Sakura nodded with a very determined look on her face before she turned and rushed off into the fighting crowd to start pounding the living hell out of the enemy. Minato just watched her go before he grew serious himself and began his own reign of attacks on a few of the Sound.

All the while, Orochimaru was watching the progress of his war, watching with mild amusement as his men was doing well against some of the Shinobi but then he scowled when he realized that the Leaf Shinobi were doing just as good. He hadn't been expecting this one. Some of the young recruits were very skilled indeed. He saw the two Uchiha brothers now facing one another and were locked in a deadly battle with one another. As for one of his most trusted men, Kabuto, he was actually fighting the young man, Sai, who was rapidly painting on paper and creating live clones to attack the medical expert ninja. He even saw that Namikaze Minato was doing well into his own fights and he was still recovering.

But it was clear exactly who was in charge of this troop.

Orochimaru knew that Minato might have been the Highest ranked Shinobi there, but it was Hatake Kakashi who was the Commanding officer of this troop of Shinobi. And it didn't help when he was using his Sharingan eye against the men he fought against. However, the snake like man just smirked coolly and licked his lips with his abnormally long tongue. There was only one way to solve this problem.

"Take away the leader, take away the army."

So he decided he would join in the fight as well. He reached up with one thumb and bit it hard till it bled. When it started to bleed, he ran the blood along a seal on his arm, calling for his giant summon.

The ground began to shake violently under the army's feet, making several look around with alarm. The Sound ninja paused for the briefest second before they launch a full out offensive attack on the Shinobi, who kicked it high gear into defensive. But when the ground began to crack a little as the giant snake pushed itself up and out of the ground. Several Shinobi had to freeze when they saw that. Even the Elites. None of them like the looks of this.

Sakura stared wide eyed up at the snake, just like everyone else. She couldn't believe this. This whole battle was spiraling right out of control. She looked around to see that all of her friends were surrounded by Sound Ninja and were having a very hard time fighting them off now. Even the Elites, who were faring a whole lot better than the younger recruits. Something needed to be done right now. And seeing that Kakashi was completely surrounded, yet doing all right, Sakura knew that something needed to be done about the numbers. For her friends and comrades were completely out numbered. But it was then, she was hit with an idea.

Her new Taijutsu technique that Gai had taught her.

With a determined look on her face, she looked straight at the Cliffside wall, letting the idea develop into a bigger plan. She knew it had to work. If she got it right, she could wipe out half of Orochimaru's army. But she would need help. She jerked her head around to search for Gai, Lee, and Neji and found them both fighting side by side, looking more like green tornados as they spun around in circles while attacking the Sound Ninja.

"Gai-sensai! Lee! Neji!" Sakura shouted to them, getting their attention. "Get everyone out of the way! I'm doing it! I'm going to punch the wall!"

Both Gai and Lee's eyes grew wide from hearing that. They knew exactly what she was talking about. Even Neji did for he was immediately running away from the rocky walls. The two Green Beasts quickly followed suit. "Everyone! Get away from the cliff! Run!" The Elite yelled as he was running for it. The other Shinobi were surprised, but few were listening while the others just stood there mixed among the Sound. Even Orochimaru was looking down at the pink haired Shinobi, frowning with confusion as he watched "him" rush to the cliff side. Sakura looked upward to see the pale tyrant watching her before she smirked mischievously before throwing her fist back. "See ya!" She shouted up at him as she was pushing her Chakra to her fist before she threw it hard into the Cliffside wall.

Before her fist even hit the Cliffside, most of the Sound Ninja had started laughing as if it had all been a big joke. They were finding this pink haired brat really stupid to even punch the cliff. But after her fist connected with the rocky wall, they were not laughing anymore. For when her fist hit the rocky wall, there was an explosion of rocks and debris as the cliff began to crumble easily under her fist. A web of cracks shot everywhere in the cliff side, making it shake and roar.

Several Shinobi, Leaf and Sound cried out in shock and alarm as they watched as huge boulders were coming loose. Orochimaru's eyes grew wide as the ground under his feet began to crack and collapse under him.

"RUN!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs as he was quickly at his father's side and pulling him as fast as he could as a huge landslide began.

Several Shinobi began to run for it as rocks were rolling right behind him and the cliff was collapsing behind them. Kakashi and the Elites were with their men, jumping side to side to avoid getting run over by the landslide. Beside the silver haired Shinobi, Sakura was running for it. She was looking over her shoulder to make sure that everyone was coming and to her relief, they were. The Sound ninja were not so lucky. Several of Orochimaru's men were immediately sucked into the rolling boulders and crushed by the thousand tons of rock. Orochimaru, however, leaped right onto his giant snake's head to avoid getting crushed.

After a long five minutes of roaring stones, everything went quiet. All of the Leaf Shinobi were safe on the side lines, looking at the huge pile of boulders with shock and alarm. But Sakura was right in front, panting from running so hard and smiling for what she had just done.

"Gai," Kakashi spoke up, both eyes; his normal and the Sharingan were wide with shock of what "Haruno Zaku" had just done. And when Gai looked at him, breathing hard and coughing from the thick cloud of dust, he looked right at Sakura. "What in the hell have you taught him?"

All four, Sakura, Gai, Lee and Neji smiled before laughing. A few of the others laughed with them until they realized that some of the Sound were still standing. Along with Orochimaru. The happy moment was gone as fast as it had come. All of the Shinobi tensed and snapped into action as they rushed forward to attack the Sound while they were still a little stunned. Once again, they were locked into a deadly battle. Kakashi just stood beside Sakura and Minato, watching as his men were jumping right into the fight again. Then he looked at Sakura with astonishment. "I must admit it, Zaku. You have definitely gotten stronger while training with Gai." He said with awe. Sakura just smiled up at him with a proud smile. She was glad to hear that from him.

That is until she saw Orochimaru suddenly appear right before them.

Before any one had the chance to do anything, the Sanin lashed out a foot and kicked Minato hard in the chest, sending him nearly flying a few yards back and across the rocky terrain. His long slimy tongue slammed into Sakura's face, knocking her onto her back, while he turned to attack Kakashi. The silver haired Elite was quick to put up his guard but not quick enough. For the snake like tyrant lashed out with a flat palm and struck him in the shoulder. With the speed and force Orochimaru was putting into the attack, it cut right into Kakashi. The Elite bellowed in pain as bent forward a little but didn't have time to block the next attack. Orochimaru threw up his knee, hitting him hard in the face and knocking him backwards. Kakashi hit the rocky ground hard with only a grunt in pain before he forced himself to lean on his elbow and clutch the hole in his shoulder.

"Kakashi!" Sakura yelped once she realized what happened. She hadn't been to keen to Orochimaru hitting her across the face with his long, slimy tongue but seeing how he was attacking Kakashi, that really made her angry.

Quickly, she was on her feet and bolting towards Orochimaru, who took the chance to kicking Kakashi hard across the face when he tried to get up to attack. The impact was hard enough to knock the Elite out. "Heh." The evil ninja snorted as he looked down at the unconscious Shinobi. "Thus ends the life of this fool." He raised his flat palm to strike again.

"Don't you dare touch him!" Sakura screamed at him as she balled up a fist and launched it at the long haired tyrant.

Startled only a little, Orochimaru jerked around only to see the pink haired "boy" attacking him. His eyes narrowed sharply as he lashed out and caught the fist, and then winced on how much strength this "boy" possessed. He swore that the bones must have broken from the impact. However, he had definitely caught the fist. "Foolish move, boy." Orochimaru sneered as he closed his long fingers around Sakura's fist.

"I don't think so!" Sakura yelled at him before she lashed out her foot next and kicked him hard across the side. Orochimaru winced a little but he caught her leg and slammed her to the ground. All of the air was knocked right out of Sakura's lungs, giving her only enough to scream in pain before coughing violently.

Orochimaru just sneered as he looked her over, watching her gasp and sputter for more air. But then something caught his eyes, or at least his ears at least. The scream. That was not a man's scream. Frowning, he tilted his head looking the pink haired "boy" over again before he bent down and grabbed the front of her shirt, yanking Sakura to her feet. "Wait a minute." The tyrant muttered before spinning her around so that he could trap her against his chest, while keeping her in a tight embrace. If Sakura was not fighting for her breath, she would at least fight to get away from him.

However, that was not the least of her worries. The thing she had to worry about the most was Orochimaru's hand shoving down her shirt and touching the bandages. Only then did Sakura freak.

"Hey! What the he-! What are you doing?! Get your hand out of there!" Sakura tried to scream at him.

But Orochimaru ignored her. He only frowned as his fingers brushed against the bandages before going further until he felt the curves. Only then did he snort as if he found something hilarious. He realized exactly WHAT he had had in his arms right then. "My, my, my." He sneered as he pulled his hand out and grabbed a fistful of Sakura's hair. "This is very surprising. A woman just killed half of my men with one little punch. Very interesting in deed. This must be embarrassing for Kakashi. But wait!" He jerked her to turn around so that they both could see Kakashi still out cold. "He probably doesn't even know that he was being rescued by a woman. I wonder how he'll take it."

"You snake!" Sakura spat as he now started to fight to get loose.

Orochimaru just laughed, more like hissed in her ear. He then slid out his long tongue and let it practically slither right in front of Sakura's face, who looked at with disgust and fear. "Not very ladylike, are we?" He said as he brought it very close to her face. "I'm only surprised that you came this far without anyone knowing that you are a female. But, surely the Great Kakashi knows. He doesn't miss a thing." And he laughed in a hiss when Sakura shivered and tried to look wide eyed at him. "Oh. I see. So he turned a blind eye then." Then the tyrant roughly shoved Sakura away from him, letting her stumble right to the ground and skin her knee on the rocky ground. "Now, what to do with you? Kill you or give you to my men as a reward for killing several Shinobi?"

Sakura's eyes widened before she jerked around and saw that all of her friends were really starting to have a hard time fighting the Sound ninja now. She could see that several of them were getting tired or were getting severely injured. Most of the men that she hadn't actually befriended were dying, but all of her friends were still alive. Problem was, they were starting to slow down. Even Shikamaru, who was the smartest ninja in the entire camp, with the I.Q. of 200, or so he and Asuma said. "No." She whispered when saw Kiba and Akamaru getting cut up pretty bad.

"Heh. I'll let my men decide what to do with you later." Orochimaru said as he started back towards Kakashi to finish him off.

Sakura whipped around again, seeing him now pulling a sword right out of his mouth. She knew that if she didn't move now, Kakashi would die. Gritting her teeth, she stood up and threw back her fist. "Do not touch Kakashi, you worm!" She snarled before lashing out hard and slamming her fist right into Orochimaru's back.

That really got his attention. There was a loud crack as one of the bones broke but Orochimaru didn't seem to pay much attention to his new injury. Instead, he jerked around, looking furious. "You…..! So you think I'm worm, hmm?! Snakes are known to be called worms of the earth, but that is not what they are! So if you wish to die with your friends, then so be it!" He then lashed out, with his sword with a silver blur and stabbed Sakura right in the shoulder.

"Argh!" Sakura screamed out in pain and she fell back a little, clutching her bloody wound now. She gritted her teeth as she watched Orochimaru step onto one of his giant snakes when it slithered over and rise up a little above her. She had to end this now. There was too much blood shed right now and she had to help her friends. Using quick thinking, she thought of only one thing. "You want to fight, Orochimaru, fine!" She snapped before whirling around and running straight for the ninja battles. First things first, get the tyrant away from Kakashi.

Orochimaru only laughed insanely as he gave the giant snake an order to give chase. "Running won't save you, little girl!" He laughed.

Sakura just kept her legs pumping as she dashes straight for her friends and the enemies. She really hoped that this would work. Quickly, she stuck her fingers into her mouth and gave a shrill whistle, catching several of her friends' attention. "Get out of the way! Get to higher ground!" She screamed at them.

Of course, seeing the giant snake coming at them, they knew they had better move. So they began jumping right out of the way, leaping up onto the high cliffs. The Sound ninja were not as fast in moving out of the way. They were barreled right over or knocked in different directions. The snake's priority and Orochimaru's was eating the pink haired Shinobi.

Sakura moved quickly through the Sound ninja just so that the snake would follow her and to her satisfaction, only part of her plan was working. Now for the really difficult part. Getting rid of the snake; both of them. She tried to think quickly, but it wasn't exactly quick enough. For the snake lunged forward and sank its fangs right in her shoulder, where Orochimaru had stabbed her. The pink haired girl screamed in pain as she was yanked to stop. That wasn't good.

But either way, her friends had seen what happened.

"Zaku!" Naruto bellowed before he jumped off the cliffs and rushed forward to help her. Beside him, Neji and Shino were jumping right after him, rage etched in both of their faces. They were quickly joined by the other young recruits Sakura had befriended since she joined the army. They were not going to stand by and watch their friend get killed by this giant snake.

"Hey! Get away from Zaku, bakamono!" Lee roared as he rushed across the rocky terrain.

Surprised, Orochimaru whirled around on the snake, looking at the Shinobi who was charging his snake. He didn't even have time as they began launching kunai or shruiken at them. Some were even throwing massive Taijutsu at the snake, driving it closer to the drop off. Neji, however, was quickly at Sakura's side, pulling her free from the snake's fangs. Sakura, on the other hand, just gritted her teeth in rage before pulling away from her friend. She was going to make this snake pay for what it just did. Without a word, she rushed over to stand between Orochimaru's snake and the cliffs and balled up a fist, summoning all her chakra to it. "Time to end this!" She yelled before she slammed her fist down hard onto the ground.

The rocky ground under her feet, the giant snake and some of her friends' feet shattered almost like glass. Millions of cracks spread out in all directions, startling some of her friends. It even spread out down the cliff side walls, causing it to rupture. The ground began shaking violently as the landslide began. Everyone around the snake immediately halted before they leapt away as the snake began to slide towards the edge. Sakura was immediately running off to the side as the landslide was now carrying the snake and the Sound Ninjas towards the drop off.

"Argh! We're gonna go over the edge!" One of the Sound yelled as he was running towards the side.

However, Ibiki was quickly there to shove him right back. He had realized what "Haruno Zaku" had just done and what "he" was trying to do. So he would help it go along. "Don't let any of them out of the landslide! Shove them right back!" He shouted. The other Elites nodded before rushing forward and began throwing kunai to push the Sound right back. The younger recruits saw what their sensai were doing and got the impression that they were suppose to help. So they joined in throwing the Sound ninja right back.

However, Orochimaru was furious. He had watched what the pink haired girl just did. And he was now watching his men topple right off the cliffs, and being carried away in a thousand ton landslide. As for his snake, it was having a hard time trying to escape the landslide. It was being pulled the huge boulders and was already starting to fall. "Catch yourself, you fool!" The evil tyrant hissed at the snake. The snake hissed right back but was trying to tense up its muscles to catch the ground.

"Oh no you don't!"

Orochimaru jerked his head around to see a very weary Minato standing off to the side; his breath rather raspy. He was forming quick hand signs before there was an explosion of smoke all around him. As the smoke was quickly blown away, Minato was standing on the back of a giant toad, almost the same size of Orochimaru's snake.

Minato just glared wearily at the pale legendary ninja before he lashed out a hand, while holding onto the back of the toad. "Knock him off, Gambunta!" he bellowed. The toad made a loud croak before it opened its mouth and its long tongue sped out, hitting the side of the snake. The force of the impact hit rather hard and it sent the snake toppling right over the edge, right after the Sound Ninja. Orochimaru gritted his teeth and tried to jump off the snake. He was not going to meet his end like this.

However, that was when Naruto threw the kunai with the explosive tag. "Hah! Take that, snake man!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

Orochimaru's eyes grew wide as he looked to the side to see the kunai coming at him. He had only a little time to pull back so that he couldn't get sliced by the blade. But the damage was done. The explosive tag went off, causing a massive explosion and sending the snake like ninja flying backwards, right off the cliff. As for the rest of the Sound, some of them were still trying to run for their lives. Even the older Uchiha sibling, Itachi. He almost made it too if it hadn't been for Sasuke, jumping into his path. "Sasuke!" Itachi hissed between his teeth. And before he could react, Sasuke flew at his older brother, slamming his fist into his face and knocking him backwards. Along with his fellow Sound ninja, Itachi was snatched up by the landslide and went right over the cliff.

"Eek!" Sakura gasped as she tried to duck under a huge boulder. She was still trying to escape the landslide that she caused. But every step she made only ended up falling back. That is, until someone lashed out and caught her hand before she could go over. She looked up to see Minato. She was surprised at first but then realized that she didn't have time to be surprised. Both of them began rushing right through the falling chunks of stone before coming to safety. She was relieved that she had managed to escape that.

Until she saw the huge crack shooting across the rocky floor towards Kakashi.

"Oh kuso!" She cursed loudly before she yanked away from a surprised Minato and began a race for the still unconscious Elite, who was very unaware that the ground he was on was starting to crumble. "Kakashi! Wake up, you procrastinated freak!" Sakura yelled.

Kakashi, of course, didn't listen for he couldn't. He only began to slide right off the cliff and would have started falling if Sakura hadn't dove forward and caught him by the wrist before he could fall too far.

Luckily, the ground under him wasn't as bad as the other part of the cliff. It immediately stopped shaking once everything settled.

The results; Kakashi was dangling off a hundred foot cliff by Sakura, who was trying to keep a tight hold on him.

"Kakashi! Wake up!" Sakura gasped as she felt herself starting to slide. She was bracing herself as best as she could, but to her horror, Kakashi was a lot heavier than she had thought. "Jeeze! You're going to die if you don't open your stupid eyes, you idiot!"

That was the que for him stir. Kakashi groaned as his head lift a little before he finally did open his eye. It took him a second to fully awake but after finding himself facing a wall and dangling by an arm off a cliff, he really snapped to full consciousness. "What the he-?!" He looked up to see a panting "Zaku" clutching onto his arm and trying to keep himself from falling.

"It's about time! Don't look down!" Sakura yelled down at him as she tried to pull him up.

Unfortunately, Kakashi did the opposite of what she said and looked what down. His eye snapped open wide as he saw how far the ground was below him. "What in the…..!" He then shook his head before grabbing the edge of the cliff and tried to pull himself up. "Jeeze. I get knocked out for a minute (actually it was more than a minute) and all breaks loose." He grumbled.

Suddenly the ground under Sakura decided to give way and she went head first right over the side. Both of them yelped in alarm as they started to fall. Kakashi reacted a lot quicker than Sakura did by wrapping his arm around her waist and trying to hold tight onto the cliff side. "Whoa!" He gasped as he held onto the edge and Sakura as tight as he could.

"Hang there, Kashi! Helps a comin'!"

Kakashi and Sakura looked up to see Gai quickly arrive and grab Kakashi by the wrist. He was quickly joined by Lee, who made to grab Sakura's hand. Together, they pulled their comrades up to safety and well away from the edge of the cliff. Sakura was panting from all of the excitement. She didn't even realize that she was bleeding from the wounds she had gotten.

"What just happened?" Kakashi asked rubbing the side of his head where Orochimaru had hit him before wincing and then touched the hold in his shoulder. He was also bleeding, but not as bad as Sakura was. It was a nasty wound but not the worst he had ever gotten.

All of the Leaf Shinobi circled around their commander and comrade, all grinning or already celebrating their victory. Minato just smiled as he bent down to one knee, smiling fondly at Sakura. "Zaku just saved your life, Kakashi. He stood up for you when Orochimaru was trying to kill you, then caught you from going over the cliff." He told him simply.

Kakashi looked at Sakura with surprise before looking at the partially missing cliff. "And Orochimaru?! Has he escaped?"

"Nope! Zaku sent him and his entire army over the cliff using that spiffy jutsu I taught him!" Gai said proudly. He even gave Sakura a thumbs up for her accomplishment. Sakura faintly smiled before looking at Kakashi who was looking at her with astonishment again. But after a moment, the strict Elite's face softened and had the look as if he was smiling at her. "Zaku, you are the craziest, most determined, most unorthodox man I have ever met." He slowly shook his head when Sakura smiled uneasily and he smiled right back as he slowly got to his feet. "But I owe you my life. I swear to you that I am in your debt and I will do anything to repay you." He told her.

Sakura only smiled as she stood with his help. All around them, their friends and comrades were cheering her name, Zaku's name. They were throwing their fists into the air and just celebrating the victory. Sakura looked at Minato, who smiled right back and gave her a wink. She could almost read that look on his face. It was a, "Good job, girl." look that he had given her. She knew that once they set up camp, there was going to be a huge celebration. And she couldn't wait to join them.

That is until her adrenaline slowed down and the pain in her wound struck.

"Argh!" Sakura cried out and slapped a hand onto her shoulder. She saw Kakashi whirl around and look at her, as did everyone else. Some of her friends looked just as alarmed as they heard her. Neji and Shino both looked at her with concern before they remembered the snake bite, not to mention the wound Orochimaru had given her.

"Zaku, what's wrong?" Kakashi asked as he quickly touched her unhurt arm. He then spotted the blood seeping through her shirt, and so had the others. "He's hurt! How did that happen?!"

Minato's eyes widened with concern and alarm when he saw that Sakura was hurt. He knew that was going to be a very big problem for two reasons. One, because she was hurt. And two, she was going to need medical attention. He knew he was going to need to get to her first and help her before anyone else did. However, it was already too late. Kakashi was now grabbing at Sakura's shirt so he could see the wound better. As expected, Sakura squeaked and tried to pull away, trying to keep her shirt closed. She knew that if he even caught a glimpse of the bandages around her chest, he would know. "Uh! It's okay, Kakashi! I'll be fine!" She told him trying not to wince but failed for the wound was stinging badly.

Kakashi was not fooled at all. He grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her back towards him. "Stop being a fool, Zaku. You're bleeding. Let me see it." He told her as he began to fight her to open the shirt.

Neji and Shino immediately jumped forward to help her. They knew that she would be discovered if Kakashi got his way. "I'll help him, Hatake-senpai!" Neji spoke up loudly. But he was caught by Gai. The Elite just grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Let Kakashi have some room, Neji. He knows what he's doing." He told him with worry for "Zaku". But Neji tried to ignore him. He was not trying to pull away from his sensai to help Sakura before she was discovered.

"No, Kakashi! I'm fine! I swear!" Sakura said frantically as she tried to keep her shirt closed. She winced again when Kakashi decided to get a little rough in trying to see her wound. He grabbed her wrists and tried to pull them away, squeezing a little hard. "Zaku! Just let me see the wound! Don't be so difficult!" He ordered her. He only glanced away from her when Minato decided to join the fray. The golden blonde Shinobi grabbed his former student's shoulder and shook his head. "Let me take care of him, Kakashi. I know how to cure the poison from Orochmiaru's snake.

Hearing the word poison made things worst.

Sakura squeaked in horror as she already felt tired from the blood loss but after hearing the word poison, she was now starting to panic. She was trying to jerk away from Kakashi now, but the poison in her system was starting to kick in. She began to see dots in her vision and she felt very sick. Kakashi just shook his head as he wrapped a strong arm around Sakura's waist and pulled her right back. "Master, I can deal with it. Just let me take care of Zaku." He told him as he grabbed Sakura's shirt and again tried to pull it open. This time, Sakura wasn't able to stop him. But he didn't need to pull it all the way open. For he saw the bandages and froze with surprise.

By that time, Sakura was starting to black out. She saw the darkness creeping up to her and she fell over on top of Kakashi. Her vision went black and she was out of it. The only thing she heard were the shouts of her friends and the last thing she saw was the shocked look on Kakashi's face.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews! **

Uh-oh! Sakura's been revealed! I wonder how Kakashi will react………hehehe. Actually, I already know how he'll react. But you are all wondering. So, why not find out by reading this next chapter.

**Read and Review, please!**

**Naruto-Heart of Honor: Twelve**

Pain.

That's what Sakura was feeling as she was waking up from her dreamless sleep. Her shoulder really ache and she was feeling tired but she was forcing herself to wake up anyway. She could hear angry voices talking to one another but in a low tone so they wouldn't wake her up. The words were blurred though so she didn't understand anyway. But as she groaned, they stopped and it went quiet. A few seconds later, she felt someone gently touch her forehead with a cool wet cloth.

"…..up….ura……" Someone's voice spoke out before it slowly began to clear the more she awoken. "Sak……can you…..me?"

Sakura's eyes flickered a little and she caught a quick glimpse of the tent ceiling before she closed her eyes again. She waited for a long moment, listening to someone's voice, possibly Minato's voice before she tried to open her eyes again and this time she saw him sitting above her, looking down at her with concern. "Minato-sama." She muttered before wincing from the pain in her shoulder.

"Don't speak." Minato told her, not smiling as she thought he would be. "You're still a little weak and it took a while to getting the snake's poison out. But you're healing just fine. With a little more rest, you should be fine in an hour or two." He then glanced away from her, elsewhere. Sakura couldn't stop herself from looking as well. In the corner, stood Kakashi, who was watching her with a very serious expression on his face. He did not look happy at all.  
Sakura didn't seem to notice the problem though. She was happy to see him there and looking well. She even sat up a little without realizing the major problem. "Kakashi…." She paused when Minato placed a hand onto her bare shoulder and tried to push her back down.

It was when his hand was touching her shoulder did she notice that she was wearing only the bandages around her chest, hiding her curves. Alarmed, she grabbed the blanket and covered herself.

"He knows." Minato muttered not able to look at her.

Sakura winced as she quickly looked up at the serious look on Kakashi's face as he just stared at her with such a hard look. His arms were folded across his chest and he just stood there, almost glowering at her. "I….I can explain." She tried to begin.

Slowly Kakashi shook his head as he just glared at her. He didn't say anything for a moment before he slightly turned his head when Ibiki came in. The more serious Shinobi took one look at Sakura before looking at Minato with the same hard look on Kakashi's face. "Minato-san, you knew about this girl, didn't you?" He asked. Minato turned around and gave his student and the other Shinobi a nod. He didn't know what he could say. "Yes. I knew from the very beginning."

"I am very disappointed, master." Kakashi finally spoke, yet his voice was very quiet under his mask. "You should have told me."

Sakura swallowed hard as she continued to cover herself. She knew that she was in trouble. And Minato had somewhat lost a little respect from his student. She didn't think she could bear that happening. "Kakashi, please. I was only….."

Kakashi gave her a cool look as he turned his eye back onto her while he was dropping his arms. "I don't really want to hear it from you, Zaku. Or should I just call you by your real name. Whatever you have to say will probably be only lies, for you seem to be very good at doing that." He said coolly before turning away and walking out of the tent with Ibiki. Sakura was somewhat hurt by what he said but she was not going to let him get away from her without hearing her out. With a frown, she looked quickly around for any spare clothes but found nothing but one of the Jounin vests, probably belonging to Minato. She didn't even ask for permission to use it. She only grabbed it and pulled it on, without even glancing at the golden blonde Shinobi. She quickly climbed to her feet, ignoring the dizzy spells she was getting.

"Sakura, don't move around. You're still weak." Minato said but he was ignored.

Sakura quickly zipped up the vest and followed Kakashi out into the evening air. She caught sight of her friends, who looked rather alarmed to see her up so soon but she completely ignored them. Even if they were standing up and hurrying over to see if she was okay. "Kakashi, wait! Just hear me out!" She called as she hurried after the silver haired Jounin. "Hatake Kakashi, just stop, dammit!"

That actually stopped everyone. Every one of the Shinobi stopped what they were doing and looked around at Sakura with alarm. Even her friends. They didn't know what was going on. They didn't know the truth. All they had known was that "Zaku" had been hurt pretty bad and only a few people were allowed into the medical tent where a medic had been healing their friend. Not even the other Elite. Only Minato, Kakashi, Ibiki and the medic knew about Sakura's true gender.

However, Sakura's outburst had stopped Kakashi.

With his back still facing her, the Elite stopped and just stood there, his shoulders falling and rising as he breathed steadily. He could feel Sakura's glare into his back but he still didn't say anything. Sakura just balled up her fists as she watched him stand there, taking no notice of the other men. She even ignored Minato who was at her side trying to get her back in the tent. She only shook her head at him. "Minato-sama, please. I have to say what's on my mind. I can't stand it if he doesn't look at me, or listen." She said sternly before she took another step towards Kakashi. "Kakashi……"

"Do not call me Kakashi. I am Hatake-taichou to you, girl." Kakashi spoke in a low voice before he turned around and glared at her. "As for what you have to say to me, you have lied to me and every single man here in this camp, Haruno Sakura! You have deceived us and made us all out of fools."

Hearing what Sakura's real name was, several of the men just stared with shock. All but Neji and Shino. They only looked away, knowing that this was bad. Naruto, of course, was clueless as ever. He just looked between Sakura and Kakashi before he moved forward. "Zaku, what's going on? I don't get it. Why is Kakashi-sensai calling you….."

Sakura only glanced at her blonde friend before she looked back at Kakashi, her chin raised high. She was not going to play this game anymore. It was time to tell the truth. "My name isn't Zaku. It's Sakura. I am a woman, not a man and I don't have a twin brother." She ignored startled murmurs and ignored as some of her friends looked stunned. "I joined this army to save my father, Daisuka. He was too old to join the army and I didn't have any brothers. I love my father too much. I didn't want to see him die. So I took his place." She was speaking with a little pain and her voice was trembling but she would not look away from Kakashi. "I am so sorry, Kakashi, that I lied to everyone. But I had to. I……"

Kakashi shook his head as he lift his head and continued to glare at her. "Why should any of us believe you?! You've lied. You could be lying now!" He snapped.

Minato now frowned as he moved forward a step. "She's telling the truth, Kakashi. She is Haruno Sakura. I know because I knew about all along." He told his former student. Kakashi looked at him, still rather hard. He couldn't say anything too harsh to this man. He was his superior after all. But still….."Master, forgive me. But you have lost respect from me. You should have told me who she was. A woman has no place in a man's war. She could have been killed."

"But I wasn't. I helped fight. I helped defeat Orochimaru, Kakashi! And don't be angry with Minato-senpai! He didn't tell anyone because I begged him not to!" Sakura said rather loudly.

Kakashi turned away to start walking away. He didn't want to hear this. Not right now. He was confused and angry. He didn't know why Minato had hid this from him. He didn't know how he hadn't noticed before. All of the signs had been there. He should have seen it. He should have seen all of the signs. A boy with pink hair, how pathetic was he for not seeing it?! And during the hot days while all of the men had taken off their shirts, Haruno Zaku hadn't!

"Kakashi, please." Sakura said softly as she hurried forward and captured his arm. Again, the silver haired Shinobi stopped, tilting his head to look at her.

However, Ibiki did not agree with Minato at all. He was almost as furious as Kakashi was, if not more. This girl had broken the law, several laws, in fact. And if anyone knew the ANBU very well, they would know that he took the law VERY seriously. No matter what the case was. He moved forward and jabbed a finger towards Sakura, who gave him a surprised look. "You have broken the law, Haruno! You are a woman who impersonated a man, much less a Shinobi!" He snapped. "Breaking a law like these only results with the punishment of death!" He looked sharply at Minato. "You know the rules, Minato! I had a lot of respect for you. But this was overstepping the line. Now, this girl impersonated a soldier. There is a law about that. To break this law, that is treason. There is only one punishment for treason like that. And that is death." He said seriously. There were several gasps from the young men that Sakura had befriended. The pink haired girl had flinched a little but then she kept her eyes on the silver haired Elite she was clutching onto. She just moved a little so that she could look at his face. "Kakashi, please. Just listen to me. I did it to save my father. I love him so much. He was just too old to fight. He would have died. Before I even came here, I watched him try and train but he kept on falling down, hurting from the injury in his leg. I couldn't stand it. I had to do this. For him. You would have done the same, wouldn't you? You would have done the same thing if it was your father."

There was a long silence before Kakashi finally turned towards her, still looking very serious but his face had softened only a little. There was still no doubt that there was disappointment in his eye. He was not happy that she had tricked him in believing that she was a boy. And she couldn't blame him.

"Kakashi, you know the laws." Ibiki said frowning.

Kakashi glanced over at the more serious Shinobi before looking back at Sakura. His eye growing serious again. He actually looked like he was going to go with Ibiki. His hand had even pulled out a kunai from his pouch and he held it up between them. Sakura just glanced at the kunai then sadly at Kakashi. She really believed that he was going to kill her. And she wouldn't fight it now. Her duty to protecting the Fire Country was over.

"No." Naruto and Lee both muttered before they started forward. They were stopped by Iruka and Gai, who didn't look any happier than they did. They were both surprised from what they just learned but they knew that it was a punishment for breaking the law.

Minato, however, looked seriously at Kakashi, slowly shaking his head. "Law or not. She did save your life, Kakashi. She did just help defeat Orochimaru and his men. You kill her now, you might as well end my life as well. For I knew about it. I may be the Head of the Shinobi, but I did break the law as well." He told him. Several of the Shinobi looked pained to hear that. They didn't like the idea of Minato having to die because he had broken the law as well. But then they looked even surprised when Neji moved forward, looking very determined. "You might as well kill me too. I've known about Zaku from the beginning." He said, getting very alarmed and surprised looks. Shino then moved forward with a nod. "As have I. My bugs revealed her to me."

Kakashi only glanced at the three, a little surprised that Neji and Shino had known but then he ignored his former sensai and the two young Shinobi. With his eye just looking right into Sakura's, looking very grave and serious, he slashed out with the kunai.

And threw the blade right down into the ground, blade first.

That took everyone by surprise. They all had thought that he was going to kill Sakura. Sakura had even flinched when he swung the kunai down but when it sunk into the dirt, she looked down at it with surprise. After a few seconds, she looked up at the grave look on Kakashi's face, almost questioningly.

"A life for a life. You've saved the life of Namikaze Minato, the Head Commanding Shinobi of the Shinobi Army, and you have saved mine. Therefore, my debt will be paid by sparing yours." Kakashi spoke in a low voice before he pulled his arm away from Sakura and turned away. "But you are through with the army. You have dishonored your family name by impersonating a soldier and lying to your commanding Shinobi. You have lost my trust, Sakura. So just go home." He tilted his head towards Neji and Shino. "You two have lost my trust. You should have reported to me. So you will return home as well. Men, pack up the camp. The Shinobi Army will be returning to Konoha Village to report to the Honorable Hokage. We will let him decide what to do with the honor of the three clans of Haruno, Hyuuga and Aburame."

No one said a word. Not even Ibiki, who looked like he did want to say something about it. But he decided against it. He knew about Kakashi's temper and knew if he did say anything, the silver haired Shinobi might argue right back. However, Gai did decide to open his mouth. "But Kakashi, what about Zaku, Neji and Shino? They have helped defeat the enemy. Female or not, she should go with……"

Kakashi gave him a cool look as he was already moving away. "They can return home." He said forcefully, as if saying that was all he was going to say. Minato, on the other hand, just shook his head. He couldn't believe how pigheaded Kakashi was being right now. But before he could say anything, Sakura turned to him and shook her head. "He's right. I should go home. I've done what I've come to do. I don't care, Minato-sama." She said with a sigh before bowing to him. "Thank you for your kindness." And then without another word, she went back into the tent that was set up for her.

Slowly, all of the Shinobi packed up the camp. Some of Sakura's friends had wanted to stay and find out what was going on but by the looks on Kakashi and a few of the other Elites' faces, they decided it was best not to. However, Naruto lingered with Minato who was trying to make sure that Sakura, Neji and Shino had enough provisions to get them home. The Legendary Ninja was trying to soothe Sakura's feelings but it wasn't working. She just continued to stare at the tent wall, with teary eyes. With a sigh, Minato looked at Neji and Shino. "I'm sorry this had effected you two as well. You should be praised like Sakura should not scolded just because you thought you were doing the right thing. I will see to it that your clans are not dishonored. But in the mean time, please. Take care of her. Make sure she gets home all right." He told them.

"We will do that." Neji said with his head lifted up high. Shino silently nodded. He might have remained quiet the entire time by he agreed mightily with what Neji had said before. They would stand by Sakura no matter what. She had sacrificed a lot just to save her father's life and help defeat Orochimaru and his army. No matter how ornery Kakashi was right now, they thought Sakura was a brave hero. Woman or not. Minato just nodded before his blue eyes flickered over to Naruto who was watching Sakura with sad eyes. He hadn't been too happy to find out that "Zaku" lied to him about who she really was but he didn't see that it was fair the way she had just been treated.

"Zaku," The blonde with whiskers said as he moved forward, though hesitating. "If it helps at all, I still want to be your friend."

That made all three, Minato, Neji and Shino look at the blonde with mild surprise. Even Sakura's head turned a little so that she could look at him. She was quiet for a moment before she offered the faintest smile and gave him a nod. "Thanks…Naruto. And I'm sorry for lying to you."

"Nah. Don't worry about it. Sorry for trying to beat the shit out of you when we first met. You were right. It was only ramen." Naruto said as he turned away and started out of the tent. But as he was leaving, he was whimpering an apology to the ramen in his bag. That made Sakura really smile but it was soon gone as she looked back at the tent's wall. Minato gave her another look of sympathy before he walked out of the tent and followed after the Shinobi troop.

However, at the head of the troop, Kakashi was staring off with a very hard stare. He hadn't really changed his serious stare at all since he started to leave. But within, if anyone could actually see into his chest, they would see that his heart was beating very slowly, as if it was afraid that it would break if it would beat any faster.

"Kakashi," Gai spoke up as he picked up his pace and tried to join his "Eternal Rival". "I still think you are making a mistake. That girl risked her life to saving yours."

Kakashi slowly shook his head as he refused to look at the weird bowl cut Elite. "Gai, drop it now. I don't want to talk about it, nor want to talk about it with YOU. So shut the hell up now." He growled picking up his pace. Gai only glowered at the silver haired Shinobi before smirking. "Well, at least we know that you're not turning gay now that you know that Zaku was actually a girl."  
Kakashi halted in his tracks before spinning around, giving the other Shinobi Elite a very fierce glare. Even the other men stopped and backed away. For a brief moment, they thought that they could see lightning of rage sparking up in their Commander's eye. He just continued to glare at Gai, who met his challenge. The black haired Shinobi just folded his arms and lift his chin. "Come on, Kakashi. She's a beautiful girl. None of us can blame you."

"Gai, you say another word about Zaku or her again, or anything like that, I swear I will Chidori your ass." Kakashi hissed between his teeth before he stomped off. No one spoke for the rest of the walk, while in the back, Minato was chuckling to himself.

The night grew later and Sakura still had not come out of the tent, even when Neji went in to try and give her something to eat. She just stared at the wall or looking down at her ninja headband in her hands. But she still wouldn't speak to him, nor Shino when he tried to talk to her. So they just stood there, watching her.

"Sakura," Neji said as he took a step towards her.

Sakura tilted her head a little so that she could glance at him before she looked away with a look of glumness on her face. She felt horrible for tricking Kakashi, much less everyone else. She had lied to them, used them to get stronger so that she could do what? Save her father, yes, but in a way she felt like she was doing it for herself. She felt like she had been selfish. She felt…...as if she had just lost all of her greatest friends, and in a way, she had. "Neji, does guilt really feel like this? Does it really feel like a kunai had been stabbed into your heart and then was ripped out after cutting into deep?"

Neji just stared down at her before he shrugged. "I don't really think I can answer that. I've never felt guilt for something I've done." He murmured. He glanced over at Shino, who only shook his head to let him know that he wasn't sure either.

"Now that I think about it," Sakura began again, staring at her reflection in her forehead protector. "I don't really think I did this for my father. I don't think that I actually came to join the army to save his life. I joined the army……to try and prove myself that I was not some woman. I wanted to be something more than just a worthless bride who only wanted love." Her eyes filled tears, which slowly began to slid down her face and spilled onto the forehead protector's metal plate. "But look at me now. Look what I've done. I've lied to my friends and lied to one of the most remarkable men I've ever met. I really am worthless!" She spat bitterly before throwing her forehead protector across the tent and buried her face into her hands.

There was a long silence as Neji and Shino watched her, not really sure what to do to try and comfort her. They weren't really used to trying to make a girl feel better. They were too used to just pushing guys around and making them laugh by telling crude jokes. But a woman was different.

"……." Shino finally hummed before he went over and scooped up Sakura's ninja head band. He stared at it for a minute before wiping the metal clean with his sleeve. Then he turned and went over to Sakura, holding it out in front of her face. "Look."

Sakura didn't respond for a few minutes as she just sobbed into her hands. But then Shino jabbed her shoulder rather hard with his other hand's finger to get her attention. "Ow! Shino! What was that for?!" she snapped before she saw her reflection again in the metal plate. She drew back a little for it was too close to her face. "What….." She then looked sharply at the usually silent bug-man. "What the hell, Shino?!"

"I said, look." Shino replied still calm and collected as ever.

Frowning, Sakura looked back at her reflection; at her pale and slightly dirty face with red rimmed eyes. She wasn't really sure what Shino was trying to make her see. All she could see was herself. What was so special about her reflection? "Shino, what….."

"What do you see?" Shino interrupted.

Sakura and Neji both looked at Shino, who was looking impassive as ever. His eyes were hidden well behind his sunglasses but it was obvious that they were baring into Sakura rather seriously. She could feel his stern gaze right through the dark glass. "I…."

Shino just shook his head as he continued to hold the forehead with a steady hand. "I said, what do you see? Look at yourself, Sakura. Look at your reflection and tell me what do you see?" he told her.

Again, Sakura looked at her reflection, staring at her pale face. She didn't know what she saw. She looked rather horrible after her experience in battle and crying for what she had done. What in the world did Shino expect her to see? She just saw a skinny, pink haired girl who had pretended to be a boy just to join the army for her own selfish reasons. Yeah, she had deceived everyone, just so that she could get stronger. And she had gone through a lot to become what she was now…….

That stopped her from thinking.

Sakura's eyes lit up at that last thought. What had she become? What had she done since she even joined the Shinobi Army? She had to think about it for a minute. Before she joined the army, she had been Haruno Sakura, a beautiful, pink haired girl who was to become a bride. But she had failed to become a proper bride. She had told the matchmaker that she wanted love in a relationship and that blew up in her face. And when that was said and done, Namikaze Minato had gone to her house and told her father to report to the Shinobi Camp for war. But she refused to let him. She had cut her hair, stole her father's weapons and clothes and had gone as his son. A man. After that, she had gone through the worst hardships to please the men in the camp. She had tried so hard to impress Kakashi and get the respect she demanded for.

And she had been the first to gain his respect, because she had gotten up the tree first.

Sakura felt a low sigh blow right out between her lips as she slowly reached up and took her forehead protector from Shino, still staring at her reflection. She kept on thinking about what she saw in her own reflection. Remembering that she had finally made friends out of the other men, had learned about the real Hatake Kakashi and his past. And almost made a friend out of him. She had saved Minato's life after learning a few healing jutsu from the medics. And she had helped defeat one of the most evil band of ninja in the entire land, saving hundreds of lives. She realized that she hadn't done that just for herself or her father. She hadn't just done all of that for honor. She did it because she loved her father and all of the men that she had made friends with.

_"With your love, they shall blossom into the most beautiful flowers."_ Her father had once said about the cherry blossoms.

Sakura's face softened as she continued to stare into her own reflection. She realized what Shino was trying to do. He had been trying to make her see herself again. To realize what she really was. "Thank you, Shino." She whispered.

Shino tilted his head as he continued to watch her. He was quiet for a minute as he just stood there. "For what? I was just trying to make you see how foolish you looked while crying."

Now the pink haired girl gave him a dull look. "Thanks for ruining the moment, you bug jerk." She told him dryly.

Neji just cracked a smile and shook his head. He definitely found that amusing. So he decided to pitch in and help. "Sakura, just think of it this way. You've come a very long way. Why stop now? Just because Kakashi said all of that stuff?" He then bent down in front of her, looking into her emerald green eyes. "You might have lied to us about you being a boy but you have showed all of the men more courage than any one of us put together. You might have risked your honor, but you saved a life. Hundreds of lives, actually. You are not a bride. You are not a man. You are a Shinobi. And what's that line that you said when you got up the tree?"

Sakura now smiled at him and shook her head. "I will never give up." She said softly. She then tied her forehead protector back around her forehead.

Neji and Shino nodded with smiles before they offered their hands to her. Their hands of friendship. "And a true Shinobi never does." They both said at the same time. Sakura just smiled before she took both of their hands and let them pull her to her feet. She felt very happy to have friends like them. She hoped that one day, the others would forgive her. "Let's just go home now." She told them. Again, the two men nodded in agreement.

"AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!"

All three jumped when they heard someone screaming, almost in rage. Sakura, Neji and Shino jerked around, looking at the wall of the tent. "What was that?" The pink haired girl asked.  
Neji shook his head as he closed his eyes and activated his Byakugan eyes. When he opened his eyes and looked right through the tent wall, towards the cliffs and down, they snapped wide open. "Impossible!" He exclaimed before whirling around and rushing right out of the tent. Sakura and Shino glanced at one another then quickly ran after their noble friend. The three of them rushed over to the cliff side and looked down, only to freeze with horror.

Lord Orochimaru was still alive!


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews! **

Double uh-oh! Orochimaru is alive! Exactly how is Sakura and the crew going to be able to take care of this one?!

**Read and Review, please!**

**Naruto-Heart of Honor: Thirteen**

Several moments before Sakura, Neji and Shino had come running out of the tent, the remains of the landslide that Sakura had caused hours before began to shift around, as if something had been trying to push its way out of the rubble. After a minute, the boulders shifted and Orochimaru crawled out, wincing a little after being crushed for almost an hour. He couldn't believe he survived that fall though. It was a long drop, much less having so many debris fall on top of his head didn't help. But finally, he was free from the rubble and merely brushing dust off of his clothes. Until he looked around and spotted his now dead giant snake. It was a horrible sight to see such a beautiful creature dead right before him. The creature was half buried by the landslide, along with his entire army of Sound Ninja. There were dead bodies scattered every where, some half buried like the snake. Orochimaru realized that his campaign to conquer the Fire Country was at a loss.

Rage was the only thing inside the pale skinned Sanin as he looked around at the destruction all around him. He could not believe this. All of his hard work of planning for the Leaf Village's downfall, all destroyed by what? A girl! A pink haired girl! That girl had cost him everything! He swore that if that girl had survived his snake's bite, he was going to rip her insides out of her body for ruining his plans. He swore that he would hunt her down and kill her for everything! Not helping himself, he threw his head back and just let out his rage.

"AAARRRRGGGHHH!!" Orochimaru roared angrily.

However, not more than a few feet away from him, there was movement. Some of the boulders began to roll off to the side and a few of his remaining Sound Ninja crawled out of their would-be tombs. The Sanin jerked around when he heard the movement but relaxed when he saw how it was. The silver haired medic, Kabuto was alive, that was a relief. He was one of the better ninja serving him. The four Sound Ninja were alive as well.

"Hmm." Orochimaru hummed as he looked the five remaining Sound Ninja over. "Looks like it's just six."

The Four Sound Ninja and Kabuto glanced at one another before looking lazily back at Orochimaru. But then another movement caught their eyes. Someone leaning against the tree, shockingly, unscathed. Orochimaru didn't even need to look. He just smirked and shook his head. He knew who was by just sensing their energy. "So, you decided to play with your little brother's mind, didn't you," he slowly turned around and looked at the black haired Uchiha. "Itachi?"

Itachi didn't even have a mark on him as he just leaned against the tree. He wasn't even dirty from the rubble. But his dark eyes were full of dark amusement. "Figured it out already?" He asked in a very quiet tone. Orochimaru slowly nodded as he turned fully around to face him. "Yes. You are such a tricky one, Itachi. That's why you scare me. You are not very easy to control, you do realize that don't you? So, while the rest of us were fighting the Shinobi, you made a body double and let him take the beating of your brother. He didn't even see it because of you, didn't he?"

"…..yes." answered Itachi in a quiet tone.

Orochimaru slowly nodded as his eyes narrowed at Itachi. He looked almost annoyed as he let everything settle in. "You were hoping that the Shinobi would kill all of us, while you lived. That they killed me so that I would leave your little brother alone, didn't you?" He slowly shook his head. "Stop trying to protect that boy. He's sworn to kill you, Itachi. After all, you killed your parents, remember?"

The only answer was a dark look from Itachi before he looked away.

Orochimaru slowly nodded before he turned around and looked off into the horizon where he could see the village of Konohagakure in the far distance. His remaining men just lined up behind him, looking with him. None of them even seemed to realize that there were three pairs of eyes looking down at them. "The Shinobi believe we are dead now. I say we take advantage of that. By tomorrow night, the Hokage, my former master, will be dead and Konohagakure will have fallen to us." He tilted his head to look lazily at all of them, smirking coldly. "No more mercy. We kill all." And then he began to lead them down the mountain pass.

Far above them, on the edge of the cliff, all three friends were looking down with horror and shock. Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. She thought that this must have been a joke or that she was still out cold and she was living a nightmare. "No…..h-he's still alive!" She muttered breathlessly. Neji shook his head as he watched as Orochimaru and his men starting to disappear among the trees. He didn't say anything for a long time and neither did Shino. They didn't know what they could say about the problem. "He….he's truly what they say about him. He's an immortal, isn't he?" Shino asked in a quiet voice. Neji only shook his head as he glanced over at him. "They say that. I'm starting to believe it." He turned his eyes back towards the distance where Orochimaru had been a minute ago. "Worst thing is, it's obvious of where he is going. He's going to finish what he has started. He's going to kill the Hokage."

Sakura glanced at him with wide eyes before her face hardened. She was not going to accept that. She refused to believe that Orochimaru was an immortal, or believe that Orochimaru was going to kill the Hokage. She refused to let him. With a stony face, she whirled around and raced back towards the tent, surprising Neji and Shino. They both turned and watched her go before quickly followed her.

"Sakura, what are you doing?" Neji asked as he entered the tent.

Inside, Sakura had already quickly changed back into her father's old clothes; her Shinobi outfit and was quickly gathering her things. She didn't even spare Neji a glance as she strapped her kunai holster onto her leg. "What does it look like I'm doing, Neji?" She asked seriously as she finished with equipping herself. "I'm going after Orochimaru and his men! Someone has got to warn the Hokage about Orochimaru!"

Shino frowned as he entered and stood right next to Neji, both not looking too sure if Sakura was even in control of her own mind. They both just gave her looks as if she was sick. "Sakura, there's nothing you can do. Kakashi told us to return home." He said quietly. Sakura turned around and gave him a stern look as she fixed her forehead protector. "Shino, I have to do something! We can't just let Orochimaru go! He will kill the Hokage and everyone in Konohagakure! We can't let them do that!" She told him.

Neji just frowned as he moved forward a step. "Sakura, we're not in the army anymore. We've been dismissed, remember? Kakashi……!"

"Kakashi will die if we don't go after Orochimaru, Neji!" Sakura said sharply. "He and all of our FRIENDS will die! They won't know that Orochimaru and some of his men are coming! We have to warn them!"

Both Neji and Shino just stared at her, only a little surprised. They weren't sure if that would work. They knew that if Sakura tried to tell Kakashi and the others that Orochimaru was still alive, they would not believe her. They would think that she was trying to get them to forgive her, but they would not believe that Orochimaru was still alive. "Sakura, you are a woman now. What makes you think that they will believe you?" Neji said, trying to be careful of not making her mad. Sakura didn't though. She just shook her head as she just stood her ground. Her eyes were a little hard and serious but she had a forced smile. "Then I will make them believe me. I will find Orochimaru myself and attack him in front of everyone. Forcing him to reveal himself. They will have no choice but to believe me." She paused when Neji and Shino gave her looks of disapproval. With a sigh, she placed her hand onto her waist and shifted her weight. "Look, guys! Are you with me or not? We are losing valuable time. The Hokage will die if we don't go now."

For a brief moment, Neji and Shino just stared at her before glancing at one another. They didn't' say anything but slowly, they smiled and nodded. "All right. Let's go then." Neji said in a quiet tone.

"Off to Konohagakure." Shino added quietly.

Sakura only smiled at them as she nodded. Then the three of them hurried out of the tent, not even bothering to take it down. It was no use to them anymore. They were in too big of a hurry anyway. They didn't have the time. They needed to reach Konohagakure before Orochimaru and his men did. Just so that they could be prepared. Sakura, Neji and Shino ran through the trees as fast as they could, not slowing down at all, no matter how bad the stitches in their sides got. They didn't stop once as they just kept their legs pumping. The pink haired girl's stayed forward as she ran between Neji and Shino. She really hoped that they would get to Konohagakure in time. And she hoped even more that Kakashi would believe her. She knew that Minato might, and Naruto. But who knew about the others?

'Kakashi, please believe me.' She thought before kicking it into full gear.

The three Shinobi reached Konoha by dusk, which was a relief. But to their dismay, the streets were packed with people, apparently celebrating the "Defeat of Orochimaru." They were full of stands and vendors trying to sell things to people. There were a lot of smiles on people's faces, for they believed that they were finally safe from any threat. They were celebrating the continuation of their lives. It was just a shame that Sakura, Neji and Shino had to burst their bubbles. They knew if they didn't tell everyone that they were in danger, they would all die. Every single one.

"There's so many people. How are we going to find Kakashi?" Sakura asked with worry.

Neji just frowned before he held up two fingers and activated his Byakugan eye. For a minute, he searched the crowds before he quickly pointed to his right. "Over there! They're heading towards the Hokage's Palace!" He yelled. Immediately the three Shinobi bolted into the crowd, ignoring as some shouted angrily after them. They didn't really have time to just stay and apologize. They could do that later. Right now, they needed to get to Kakashi and the other Shinobi. Sakura pushed her way through the crowd, with a determined look on her face. She really wanted to get to Kakashi before anything happened. She wondered if Orochimaru was there yet. She really hoped not.

WHAM!

Sakura yelped as she accidentally ran into someone, nearly falling backwards if Neji and Shino hadn't caught her. The other person she had run into also yelped and fell back against a few others. But after a second, the blonde girl whirled around and glared at Sakura. "Watch where you are going, you stupid……..! Sakura?!"

The pink haired girl blinked out of her confusion before looking at who it was, only to stunned to see her old friend, Ino. She would have stepped back if only Neji and Shino weren't holding her in place. "Ino! What the…..! Wh-what are you doing here?!" She gasped as she looked at her old friend with astonishment. Ino just stared right back at Sakura, looking almost shocked. Her eyes were almost as wide as saucers as she looked her over. "Sakura! You……! What has happened to you?! I heard that you ran away from home! And so many people has been looking for you! The matchmaker Tsunade was furious when she found out that you ran off! I heard she went to your house to announce your match! And then…..why are you dressed like a guy?" She asked tilting her head with dull curiosity.

"Uh…….! I can't explain right now! I'm in a hurry!" Sakura said before she was running off again with her two friends behind her. Ino just stood there for a minute before she frowned and ran right after her. She wanted to know what was going on and she refused to let "Billboard Sakura" brush her off like that.

However, Sakura was almost where Neji told her that Kakashi and the others were when she felt a shiver go right up her back. It was as if someone was watching her. And trusting her instincts, she stopped in the crowd with Neji and Shino before looking around. She wasn't sure where the feeling was coming from but then she turned to keep going, only to freeze. There were people between them and he was wearing a disguise but those eyes no doubt belonged to HIM. There was a tall thin man wearing an ANBU mask, the marking of a snake. He was completely garbed in black but she knew it was him. She could see those eyes through the snake eyes' slits.

And worst, those eyes were on her.

"Neji….." Sakura said in a dark tone as she glared towards the disguised Sanin.

Neji moved closer to her, his eyes also glaring towards Orochimaru, along with Shino. He understood what she was getting edgy for. "I know. I see him too." He murmured, before glancing over at the blonde young woman who joined them. She was out of breath but annoyed as she looked at Sakura, who glanced back at her. "Sa-Sakura! What in the heck is going on with you?!" She exclaimed. The pink haired girl just shook her head as she turned to glare back at Orochimaru, who had vanished. She looked around with alarm but he had vanished completely. "Come on, guys! We've got to find Kakashi before it's too late." She said before she was quickly pushing through the crowds again. Neji and Shino nodded, while Ino moaned and followed after them.

The entire group of Shinobi were sitting at the Ramen shack, trying to get something to eat, which was free to them because they had saved all of the Fire Country. But none of them could eat. Not even the wacky blonde, Naruto, who usually loved ramen. All of them just stared sullenly down into their ramen cups while a few kept glancing over at the silver-white haired Shinobi Commander, who was trying to read his Icha Icha book but he looked rather distracted. Every time he saw a flash of pink, he would look up almost as if he was expecting HER to come jumping at them. But when Kakashi saw that it wasn't who he was expecting, he just looked back into his book.

"He's upset too, isn't he?" Sai asked in a low voice to Sasuke, who only glanced at him.

Sasuke only shook his head before looking down into his sake glass, looking moody. He hated to admit it, but he was almost as upset as everyone else. He felt like a traitor for not standing up for "Zaku", more than less Sakura, when his conscious was screaming at him to do it. Every one of the young Shinobi recruits had wanted to say something on Sakura's behalf but they were all afraid to. They all felt like cowards. "Wouldn't you?" The young Uchiha muttered into his drink.

The Emo-like Shinobi slowly looked away, frowning. "I wouldn't know. I only know the meaning of the word. But….." He paused as he lowered his head more. "I feel….a strange sensation in my chest. Pain. A dull ache."

"It's called guilt, dumbass." Kiba growled as he scratched a whining Akamaru behind the ears. The puppy was even saddened by what had happened. His tail was between his legs and he hadn't stopped crying since they left Sakura, Neji and Shino on the mountain. Everyone had expected Kiba to be a little angry because he hadn't caught on like Neji or Shino did but he wasn't. Not at Sakura for her deception. He was angry at himself for not speaking up for her. He was a little annoyed when he found out that his puppy had known and hadn't told him but he did his best to comfort the poor dog. Lee sighed as he slumped in his chair, his head bowed. He was looking the sorriest out of the bunch. He looked as if someone had died and he had cared about them very much. Beside him, leaning against the pole, Gai was looking down at the ground. The only ones that was not there with them were Minato and Ibiki. They had gone to see the Hokage to report to him about the war results. Neither one had been happy, especially with each other. Right after they had left the mountain, the two had had a heated argument, right before the entire Shinobi Army. Minato scolded Ibiki about the way he treated Sakura. He told him it was foolish to treat her like that. Ibiki, of course, defended himself with saying that Sakura had been a lying woman and that she should have been punished. Of course, Minato's next words struck every single one of the Shinobi.

"And yet, she was the most determined Shinobi we had. She was the first one up the tree and she went through more hardships than all of us put together. She risked her life and honor to save her father's life and she helped defeat Orochimaru. All of us," Minato said in a low and dangerous tone. ", should be ashamed of ourselves for treating her with such disrespect because she is a woman. How pathetic are we to not acknowledge someone who has enough potential that matched a man's. And not any man's. A Shinobi." After that, he didn't speak to anyone else, not even when they reached the village. He just completely walked off, with a forlorn looking Ibiki stating that they would see the Hokage.

After that, everyone just wandered together and joined the celebrations, yet they were not exactly celebrating. They were so gloomy while everyone else in the village were happy. "They don't even know that it wasn't us who saved them. But a beautiful, pink haired girl." Muttered Lee as he dipped lowered into his chair. A few of the others looked over at him, sharing his feelings. Gai reached over and patted his son on the head, trying to be comforting but he felt as bad.

SNAP!

Kakashi slammed his book shut before looking away. He was growing tired of listening to everyone complain about that girl. Why were so they so concerned about her?! She had lied to them! She had lied to him! She had lied! She had made them all into fools and for what?! That made Kakashi stop as he felt a painful twinge inside his chest. He couldn't finish his own thoughts. He couldn't stop the feeling of guilt as he tried to be bitter about her. In a way, he felt the guiltiest out of the men. He knew it had been his duty to punish a deceiver like Haruno Sakura, but he didn't. Why? Why hadn't he been able to? He remembered as he tried to lift his Kunai to kill her for what she did but to see that painful look in her eyes, to even look at her, he couldn't do it. He remembered hearing his own heart pounding and the sound of the first crack. He could not take Sakura's life.  
But why?  
Kakashi's thoughts led him back to that night when he had first spoken civilly with her. He remembered how he had startled her out of her thoughts while he was sitting in the tree and reading his book. He had almost laughed when "Zaku", Sakura had nearly jumped out of her skin. And then he remembered the genuine smile on her face. It made his face soften when he remembered that smile she had given him. Even though the last thing he had thought before fleeing from her that night had been how much he wanted to kiss her.

"Kakashi!"

Kakashi lowered his head and sighed as he closed his one eye. He could swear that he was hearing her voice now. This was torture to him, he thought. It wasn't fair to him that he was hearing her voice and he was trying to forget her.

"Kakashi!" came Sakura's voice again.

"Sakura!" yelped Naruto, knocking his ramen all over the place. But he hadn't been the only one. Several of the men jumped to their feet when they saw her running towards them, pushing through the crowds with Neji, Shino and Ino right behind her. Kakashi's eye had snapped open and he looked at the pink haired young woman who he thought had been a figure of his imagination a minute ago. He was surprised to see her, which was obvious. He straightened against the pole he had been leaning against as she stumbled towards him, almost falling forward if he hadn't reached out and let her catch herself onto his arm. "Sakura." He murmured in surprise.

Some of the others were too busy smiling and looking at the three with excitement as they stood in front of them. But the three didn't smile back. They just looked directly at Kakashi, looking very serious.

"Ka-Kakashi!" Sakura gasped as she looked up into his one eye.

Kakashi frowned as he looked down at her, still way too surprised to be angry to see her again. He was wondering why she was there. Had she come back to apologize again? Why didn't she go home? And why in the hell did it look like these three had just been running a mile dash? "Sakura, what are you doing here? I thought I told you……"

Sakura shook her head as she straightened and gave him a serious look as she held up a finger to him to shut him up. "Look, Kakashi. We don't have a lot of time! All I will say is I'm sorry I lied, okay? I am SORRY! But if you were me, if you were in my position, you probably would have done the same thing! I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth but would you have let me stayed if I did tell you what I was?" She didn't even let him answer as she shook her head. "No, you wouldn't have. You didn't even approve of me when I was Zaku, because I had pink hair. But you have to believe me now! Please, just believe me! But Orochimaru is alive and he is in the village right now!"

That came as a shock to everyone. All of the Shinobi went deathly quiet as they looked at her with shock and alarm. Even some of the people standing around them went quiet, and that was a lot of people. Several eyes shot towards the one who just said that. Even Ino looked at her old friend with wide eyes.

"What?" Kakashi asked in disbelief. He was already starting to doubt her.

Neji and Shino shook their heads as they moved forward. "She's telling the truth, Kakashi. We all saw him. He, Uchiha Itachi, Kabuto, and the Sound Four survived the landslide." The serious black haired Noble said. Murmurs began to rise up all around the group, some people shaking their heads or looking around with fear.

There was a long silence before Kakashi looked around at the people, then his face darkened as he looked at Sakura. He did not believe her. He had no reason to believe her. Even if Orochimaru had survived the landslide, he couldn't have come out unscathed and he had lost all of his men. "Go home, Sakura! You do not belong here." He said sharply before turning away. Sakura froze there for a moment before her face hardened and she grabbed Kakashi's arm, whirling him back to face her. The motion seemed to surprise him, especially when she grabbed the front of his vest and yanked him to her eye level. "Now you listen to me, Hatake Kakashi! I know I lied to you! I already I said I was sorry! But if you don't believe me right now, all of these people will die!"

"Stop it, Sakura! You are scaring people!" The silver-white haired Shinobi said as he grabbed her wrists and made her let him go. "Orochimaru is dead. The people are safe."

Sakura just frowned at him as she stared up into her former Commander's eye. "Kakashi, I know I lost your trust, but you have to trust me now. I swear I am not lying to you." She told him. Kakashi still looked very doubtful so she sighed with frustration and yanked her hands free from him. "Kakashi! You are the biggest, pig-headed man I have ever known! If you won't believe me, I will find someone who will!" She shouted at him before she whirled around and barged through the crowd. She paused to look back at Neji and Shino, who looked like they wanted to go after her. "Guys, stay there and try and convince that idiot!" She told them before she was gone. The Shinobi and the blonde young woman only stared wide eyed after her, not knowing what to say. Kakashi looked rather stunned to have been insulted like that without being able to retort. Especially by her. But after a minute, he glanced around, as if looking for something, or rather someone. He looked rather serious as he was doing so. He didn't even spare his men a glance before looking at the Shinobi. "Come on, men. We're suppose to go meet the Hokage for the ceremony." His eye flickered over to Neji and Shino, who were still looking unsure of either to stay with the others or go after Sakura. "Neji, Shino, you too. Stay with us." He told them before he turned and began to make his way through the crowd. Ino, on the other hand, just frowned before she whirled around and took off on her own.

As all of the Shinobi stood before the Hokage Platform, a fanfare began to explode from horns that musicians were playing. It was time for the Great Hokage to make his appearance. The crowd began to cheer, the moment of the crazy pink haired girl already forgotten, even though she was still in the crowd, trying to convince someone to believe her. No one was listening though. It was because she was a girl again, no longer a man. She was brushed off by moody men before pausing to look at Ino as she approached with a few women she knew. Hyuuga Hinata, Tenten, a foreigner that they had met a while ago, Temari, a slightly older woman, Anko, and a wild looking beauty who had some resemblance to Kiba. She only sighed and shook her head while the blonde rolled her eyes. But then those eyes turned to look as the Hokage was now making his way down the steps. The crowd went wild now when they saw him. The Third Hokage was surrounded by masked ANBU, including a forlorn looking Minato and Ibiki. Both were wearing their traditional Ninja clothing and standing on each side of the Hokage, and a young teenage boy that Sakura didn't recognize. She was sure she had seen him before but she wasn't sure from where. "Hey, who is that?"

Ino gave Sakura a dull look. "Oh, please! Don't tell me you don't know about that brat?!" The dull look that was returned to her told her that Sakura didn't know who it was. "Ugh. That's Konohamaru, the Hokage's Grandson and the Shinobi Elite, Asuma's nephew." She then frowned as they walked together closer to where the Shinobi were, yet not joining them. "Though, I didn't know he was back from his trip so soon. I thought he was going to be visiting the Land of Waves for the entire summer."

Sakura glanced at her with a confused frown but then shook her head as she looked forward, only to catch Minato's eyes. He looked surprised to see her in the crowd but then a gentle smile appeared on his face as he looked kindly at her, then offered her a wink. Sakura smiled back and winked right back, which earned a very weird look from Ino and the other girls, for they had seen it. "Don't tell me you're flirting with that guy. He's way older than you!" The blonde said.

"What, jealous?" Sakura asked smirking at her old friend, only getting a jealous glare.

In the front, Kakashi and the remaining Shinobi moved closer to the Hokage before bowing down to one knee before him, showing him their respect to him. The Hokage just smiled gently at them as he moved forward with his grandson and approached Kakashi. He motioned for all of them stand, which they all did and looked up at him. Then the Hokage looked around the entire crowd of Konoha Village. "My great people of Konohagakure, we shall sleep soundly tonight for Lord Orochimaru and his army have been defeated! All thanks to our brave Shinobi of the Fire Country! Few lives have been lost and those lost souls will forever be remembered! But let us celebrate this grand day of life! We shall live on and in freedom!" He bellowed so that everyone could hear him.

Cheers immediately broke out as hands were thrown up into the air. All except Sakura and a few of the Shinobi. They were just shaking their heads as they looked around, as if searching for Orochimaru.

The Hokage then turned to Kakashi, who still looked a little sullen after the little fight with Sakura several moments before. He wasn't even meeting the Hokage's with his own. "Kakashi," The elderly man said getting the silver-white haired Shinobi's attention. "I heard about what was going on during the Camp and all of your hardships while training the new recruits. Though it is hard, you should not be so hard on yourself for what had happened. You were an excellent Commander for the Shinobi Army, everyone trusted you and you did what you had to do to ensure your men's preparations for battle. Your father would be proud of you if he was here."

Kakashi looked at him, slightly surprised but then his face softened as he looked at the Hokage. He almost looked thankful to hear that from the old man. And he really was. He really was proud to receive such a comment from the Hokage, himself. But then something caught his attention, or at least, he overheard what the blonde young woman told Sakura. He frowned as he glanced over his shoulder at the young women, only to see that Sakura now looked very alert as she looked at Ino before looking back at Kakashi, her eyes growing wide. He saw her mouth his name and he knew that was a warning. His head turned slowly and looked directly at Konohamaru, frowning. "My lord, that's not your grandson, is it?" He asked, dryly. The Hokage frowned with surprise as he glanced down at the boy, who looked calmly back.

But that was the que for the strike.

As Kakashi stared at the calm boy and started moving forward, there was a loud explosion, which seemed to be some kind of sign because the ANBU lunged forward and into action. One of them as right next to the Hokage in seconds before lashing out and kicking Kakashi hard in the chest, sending him flying backwards into the Shinobi, who were immediately pulling out Kunai or looking sharply around for what was happening. Another ANBU roughly grabbed the boy and shoved him off to the side while two more were now taking on Minato and Ibiki, who had tried to leap forward to defend the Hokage. There were more explosions, making the crowds scream with horror. Another ANBU roughly grabbed the Hokage and began dragging him up the stairs. All the while, the Hokage seemed to be too stunned to do anything. Then all of the ANBU who had attacked Kakashi, Minato and Ibiki rushed up the stairs and into the building, slamming the door and locking it.

"NO!" Kakashi gasped as he climbed to his feet.

The younger Shinobi who had been knocked down also climbed to their feet, looking horrified. They couldn't believe what just happened. But what was more alarming was the man standing on top of the Hokage Building, arms folded and grinning evilly as he looked the crowd over. "Oh my kami!" Naruto yelped as he pointed towards the roof. And when the others looked, they realized exactly who it was.

"Orochimaru!" Gai gasped as he looked wide eyed up at the Sanin.

Kakashi swore loudly as he bolted up the stairs towards the doors, followed by Minato and Ibiki. Several of the Shinobi Elites quickly followed and they began attempting to try and open the doors but they were locked. The silver-white haired Shinobi swore even louder as he began banging on the doors with his fists. "No, no!" He yelled. "Lord Sandaime!"

Sakura was horrified of how fast Orochimaru's men had attacked. But she was more worried about the boy that everyone thought might Orochimaru. She hurried up the stairs to him and helped him stand, while the women she had been standing with all looked just as horrified as the entire crowd, though Anko was swearing up a storm and acting very un-lady like. Ino hurried up to where Sakura was standing with the boy. "Sakura! What in the heck is going on here?!" She gasped.

"Orochimaru is alive, Ino! I told you all that he was!" Sakura yelled over the crowd's screams before she looked at Neji and Shino who quickly joined her side and looked the boy over. "We have to get to the Hokage before it's too late! We have to help him!"

Neji nodded as he turned and began scanning the building with his Byakugan Eye before he looked back at Sakura with a frown. "We need some kind of plan! The doors have been bolted and there seems to be some kind of Jutsu on the doors." He told her. Sakura slowly nodded before she looked at the boy. "Stay here! You'll be safe while out here!" She then ran up the stairs with Neji, Shino and the women after her, going straight to the other Shinobi who were attacking the doors and trying to break it open. "Kakashi!"

Kakashi's head jerked around but then he went back to trying to break the doors open while swearing up a storm. "Sakura! I'm sorry I doubted you but right now we have to get inside! The Hokage will die if we don't!" He yelled as he kept banging on the thick wood. Sakura only frowned before looking up at the high window where she saw Orochimaru was standing. She knew that if they didn't get inside right now, the Hokage would die. "They'll never reach the Hokage in time." She murmured before she sharply looked to where Shikamaru was studying the building with a serious frown. She hurried over, looking directly at him. "Shikamaru, can you find a way in?" She asked.

"Shhh." Shikamaru shushed her before going back to observing the building with such a hard look before he closed his eyes looking as if he was trying very hard to concentrate. Sakura just watched him with a firm line for a mouth. She knew that he was trying to think of a strategy to getting inside. And she knew that he could figure out a way to get in. He was the smartest out of the entire group of recruits. She hoped that he would hurry it up though. They didn't have a lot of time. But she didn't interrupt. But then Shikamaru's eyes snapped opened and he looked back up at the lower balcony under where Orochimaru was. He had found it. "The balcony!" He said sharply and jabbing a finger upward. "We need to climb the walls and get up there!"

Sakura nodded with a determined smile as she looked up at the balcony then back at him, as he looked at her. They both smirked at one another before turning to look at the other frantic Shinobi. "Hey!" They both shouted, catching their attention. Even Kakashi turned around to look at the pink haired girl. "Guys, we have an idea! Come on!" Sakura said as she turned towards the building and began to concentrate hard on transporting her Chakra to her feet. The others only watched her as Shikamaru followed suit. After a few seconds, they ran at the side of the wall, pausing to look down at them. "Well, are you coming?!" Sakura called to them as she just stood vertically on the wall. The other Shinobi recruits just froze with surprise before they looked at one another. Slowly, one by one, they smiled and nodded. They knew exactly what Sakura and Shikamaru had in mind now. So they rushed towards the walls and followed suit. Kakashi just stood there stunned for a minute at what they were doing before looking at Minato when he touched his shoulder and looked at Gai and Asuma. "Go, Kakashi. They'll need your and Gai's help." The golden haired Shinobi said.

"Master, aren't you coming with us?" Kakashi asked with a frown.

Minato just shook his head as he looked over his shoulder at the boy still standing right where he had been left. "Someone needs to protect the boy, Kakashi. I will do that." He turned back to his former student. "I've already had my glory of saving the day. It's your and Sakura's turn. Now, go help her or she will get killed."

Kakashi frowned at the way he said that but then whirled around and hurried to join the young Shinobi and the other two Shinobi Elites while the others would try and protect the people or settle them down.

"Hey, forehead!"

Sakura felt a vein starting to pulse under her forehead protector when she heard Ino call her that, again. She had only taken a few steps up the wall with the others when the women called out to them. So she turned around and gave the lovely blonde a dark look for her traditional nickname. "What, Ino-pig?! Can't you see I'm busy trying to go rescue the Hokage?" She asked impatiently. Ino and the other women just frowned up at her, a few still a little uneasy to see that the pink haired girl was actually standing on the wall, looking down at them. "How in the heck are you doing that, Sakura?! Why are you dressed like a guy and what in the hell have you been doing for the last six months?!" the angry blonde asked placing her hand onto her waist before she pointed at Sasuke who was still walking up the wall. "AND DO YOU KNOW SASUKE-KUN?!"

That made several people, including the Shinobi turn and look at Ino, some looking rather wide eyed. Even Sasuke had turned around, looking at the blonde, yet rather dully. It was almost as if he was asking what the whole big deal was. Sakura glanced over at him before rolling her eyes as she shrugged. "She's a huge fan of yours, Sasuke. Don't pay any attention to her." At that, several of the Shinobi rolled their eyes and started walking up the wall again. Some of them just muttered about how stupid it was that Sasuke had so many female fans. Even he looked annoyed. Sakura turned her eyes back onto Ino and shifted her weight. "Look, Ino. I don't have a lot of time. I'll explain everything to you later. But right now……"

"Hey, Sakura. Let us help you then. Maybe there's something we can do." Tenten said as she shifted her weight.

Sakura looked down at the black haired girl, frowning. She didn't know how the women could help at all. They didn't have any fighting experience, at least not that she knew of. She knew that all of them were from clans who all had Shinobi in them but she wasn't too sure if they had actually been taught anything like her father had. But as she just looked the girls over, noting that they were wearing nice kimonos, she was struck with a sudden idea, making her smile as she slowly nodded. She turned around to look at her friends, giving them a nod. "Let them come. I have an idea that might get us past Orochimaru's men. If they do it right."

"What's that suppose to mean?!" Ino growled at her.

Sakura only smirked at her as she folded her arms, while the other Shinobi looked rather interested too. "Don't worry." She then looked at her friends, her eyes stopping on Kakashi who was walking past her. "Kakashi, can't they come?" She asked. Kakashi frowned at her before glancing over his shoulder at the girls. He just stared at them before his sighed and shook his head. "Bringing them along will only slow us down. Right now we need to hurry it up or the Hokage will die." He said as he turned and hurried up the wall. Sakura just frowned as she folded her arms. She felt very annoyed that he wasn't even interested in what her idea was. She couldn't believe this man. He was so stubborn. So instead of looking to him for support, she looked at her friends, which to her relief, they were moving down the wall and offering hands to the girls.

"It's all right, Sakura. We're on it." Naruto said grinning as he held out his hand to a blushing Hinata.

"Yeah." Choji said as he offered his hand to Ino.

Ino, however, gave him a dark look as she looked at his hand then slapped it away. "Hey, no way! I want Sasuke to help me!" She looked to the black haired stoic Shinobi, rather hopefully. But to her utter disappointment, Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked on, following after Kakashi. With a pout, she looked back at Choji, who offered his hand again. So Ino gave him a dry stare. "You drop me, fatso, and I'll kill you."

"I am not fat." Choji said just as dryly as he pulled her up and onto his back.

Soon enough, everyone was heading up the large wall, with Naruto carrying Hinata on his back; Neji with Tenten on his; Shikamaru, looking somewhat bewildered that the foreigner Temari managed to get him to carry her. Anko had somehow bullied Gai into carrying her. Sakura was hurrying up the side of the wall with Kakashi beside her, with a look of firm determination. They were not going to let Orochimaru kill the Hokage.


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews! **

**The big fight with Orochimaru to save the day is coming up pretty soon. But can Sakura, Kakashi and the gang save the Hokage in time or will she...oh! I mean he die? Hehehehe. **

**Read and Review, please!**

* * *

**Naruto-Heart of Honor: Fourteen**

The Shinobi and the women finally reached the balcony together, and carefully began to run through the halls, sneaking around and trying to find where the wicked ninja had taken the Hokage. Sakura stayed beside Kakashi as they rushed through the halls, looking into room after rooms. They weren't sure where Orochimaru had the Hokage but they knew that they needed to find them soon or it would be the end of the great leader of the Fire Country. The Shinobi stayed around the women, though they weren't sure what Sakura had planned to do with them. Even Ino and the other girls were wondering. But they figured that they would find out soon enough.

Finally, they reached the floor where they had seen Orochimaru on the balcony. Unfortunately, their fears were confirmed. The Sound Ninja were watching the doors of the Hokage's quarters. Itachi Uchiha was not one of them though. Nor was the one called Kabuto. They were probably with Orochimaru and the Hokage in the next room. The Shinobi frowned as they carefully looked around the corner at the guards before quickly going back the way they came, to come up with a plan.

"All right. Here's the plan." Kakashi said as he looked his men and the women over. "We'll rush them and over take them quickly and silently. Sakura, you stay with the women..."

Ino snorted as she placed her hand onto her waist and tilted her head. "Do you honestly think that you guys can take those guys quickly and silently? Without a warning called to Orochimaru? I don't think so!" The blonde said in a diva sort of way. She received a look from Kakashi but Sakura shook her head as she held up her hand to the silver-white haired Shinobi. "As much as I hate to agree with Ino-pig, Kakashi, but she does have a point. You guys rush out there and try to over take them, there will be a mistake made. They can shout a warning to Orochimaru and what then? He'll kill the Hokage before we can even reach him." She told him.

Shikamaru nodded in agreement, as he let the plan roll over in his mind. He had to admit it, but Sakura was right. "She's got a point. One sight of us, there'll be a shout. Besides, those guys are stronger than we thought. They did survive the landslide after all." He said dryly.

"Then what do you think we should do then? We have to get to the Hokage right now." Naruto said with a frown, his voice raising a little but winced when Sakura slapped a hand over his mouth to shut him up. But at that very second, she was hit with an idea. She smiled wickedly before she looked around at her female friends. "I think I have an idea. Looks like you girls just became useful after all." She said before glancing at Naruto, smirking even more evilly. "And so did you, Naruto."  
This brought only a puzzled look from the blonde, and everyone else. They didn't like the look in Sakura's eyes but it must have been something good. So they asked what she had planned. A few moments later, they were all smiling evilly.

The Four Sound Ninja guarding the doors were on edge. They were just waiting for some kind of attack to come from the Shinobi. They were sure that they were not going to give up in saving their Hokage. They were all actually hoping that they would show up so that they would have something to do besides just waiting for their leader to kill the old man and conquer the Fire Country as his own. This was something they were all waiting for. They couldn't wait until they would be able to rule in this land. It would no longer be the Fire Country but the Sound. They would rule the entire Country with fear if they had to. But they had won this war. They were sure of it.

"Heh, heh, heh!" came the sound of giggling, making all four of them jerk around with their hands on their kunai.

"Who's there?!" One demanded as he prepared the throw his kunai. This was what they had been waiting for. They had been just waiting for the Leaf Shinobi to show up. It was time for action. It was time for...

All four Sound Shinobi froze when the intruders came around the corner, their eyes growing wide when they saw who it was. Seven very beautiful young women with their kimonos somewhat falling off their shoulders. Ino in the lead, flaunting her gorgeous long blonde hair and batting her blue eyes at the men. Tenten, Temari, Anko, and Kiba's older sister, Inuzuka Hana were following Ino's lead very well. Behind them, was a meek looking Hinata, who was trying to follow her lead but she looked somewhat terrified. However, there was a lovely blonde with long ponytails running down to the floor with bright blue eyes batting flirtatiously at the men. The only thing about her was the three whisker markings on her cheeks and how she was wearing a very skimpy outfit that definitely showed a lot of skin, making the Sound Ninja's eyes grow very wide.

"What the...?! Where did they come from?!" One of the Sound asked as he pulled his kunai.

But the largest one of the group reached over and caught his wrist as he was eyeing the blonde with whiskers with a grin. He seemed be enjoying this. "They're just a bunch of women."

"Very beautiful women." Said another grinning as he looked the flirting women over.

The women held up their hands as if to show that they were unarmed, but they kept moving forward, waving their hips side to the side. To their greatest pleasure, the men's eyes were following them. This was definitely a good sign that the plan was working. Ino just tilted her head in a innocent way as she looked the men over. "Oh, we were so afraid." She said in a sweet voice, and a little pouty. Hana nodded as she looked directly at the one called Kimimaro, with a lazy smile. "With all of the noise outside, we were afraid that evil ninja had come to take us away. I'm so glad that we found four very strong men to protect us."

The other girls all nodded as they moved closer to the Four sound and began to surround them, touching their arms as if testing their muscles. They smiled sweetly at the four men, who all just looked them over with silly smiles on their faces.

Ino had her arms on the largest one, Jirobo, smiling flirtatiously up at him. "Will you please protect us from the bad ninja?"

Temari nodded as she batted her eyes at the Sound ninja with four arms. She linked her arms with at least one of them, rubbing them up and down. "Yes, please protect us from the evil ninja, and we will give you whatever you want." She told him in such a seductive sort of way. The four-armed Sound Ninja grinned as he looked at his companions, which mostly only three were enjoying their selves. The Sound Ninja, Kimimaro, however, looked rather suspicious as he looked at the women around him and his comrades. "I don't like this. We should tie these women up and deal with them later."

"Oh, shut up, Kimi. Don't ruin this moment. We hardly get to mess with women anyway. There's not many at Orochimaru's lair." Kidomaru, the four-armed ninja growled at him. "Let us have a little fun while we're here."

The other ninja nodded as they let the flirty women around them test their muscles or bat their eyes at them. Anko and Hana moved closer to Kimimaro, both on each side and running their hands up his arms, while he looked at them suspiciously. "Oh, come on. Relax a little. We're only women. It's not like we're harmful." Anko said with a smile. Kimimaro just continued to stare at her suspiciously but he looked mildly relaxed.

"Don't worry, chicks. We'll protect you." Said Jirobo as he grinned down at Ino.

Though deep inside, each one of the girls felt a spark of annoyance and anger flare up inside them. They hated being called chicks. That was a word that should have been banned. But on the outside, they just smiled.

Sakon grinned as he wrapped his arm around Hinata's waist, getting a very cool look from the blonde with whiskers. "I think I like this one. She seems shy but even the shy ones are fun. What do you think, Ukon?" But then to the women's surprise, a face in the back of his head lift up, wrapping the other arm around the whiskered blonde's waist, who looked like she just wanted to pull away and punch the guy but Ino shot her a look as if daring her too. So she just pressed herself against him, smiling. "I think I like this one, brother Sakon. The blondes are the ones who know how to have all the fun."

"Oh you have no idea." The whiskered blonde said grinning slyly before she grabbed that one by the head and slammed her head right into his.

That was the que for action.

The Shinobi who had been creeping around the Four Sound, who had been completely distracted by the seven lovely ladies, though the blonde one with whiskers exploded with smoke before Naruto leapt out of the smoke and grabbed the arm that was resting around Hinata's waist. "Keep your hands off of my future wife, punk!" He snapped before throwing the double headed Sound Ninja into the wall, where Kiba quickly intercepted him with Akamaru. The Shinobi started to leap forward to attack the Four Sound, but before any one of them could even get close, the women jumped to action. Anko and Hana both grabbed Kimimaro's arms and threw him hard against the wall, following before slamming their palms into the sides of his face. Temari and Tenten both smirked as they grabbed the two arms of Kidomaru, holding tight, while he was looking rather alarmed.

"You touched my butt!" Temari hissed. "No one but my future husband can do that!" Then the blonde practically became a blur of gold as she spun around behind him while pulling out a fan out from within her belt and slamming it against his head. Tenten, on the other hand, reached into the folds of her sleeves, yanking out four kunai and throwing them at the startled four-armed Ninja. The blades sliced into his sleeves and threw him against the wall while Temari took the chance to start slapping him across the face with the fan.  
Ino, unlike the others, smirked as she continued to clung onto Jirobo's arm. She waited till he got a good look around at the happenings before he jerked his head down to her, raising a fist to hit her. The lovely blonde only smiled innocently at him before she kicked the ground hard, flipping up into the air and landing on his large shoulders. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to hit girls?" She asked sweetly before she balled up a fist and slammed it hard into his face, making him stagger back a little. Ino then took the chance to jump off of his shoulders, landing on her feet. "Of course, my daddy wouldn't like you either. You're too fat! Fatter than that guy over there and even he's better looking than you!" She said motioning to Choji, who, like some of the other Shinobi was staring at the women with shock. "In fact, he's not bad looking at all. A little big, yeah. But even some of the big guys are great." She had a strange smile at that thought, making Sakura sweat drop while the others were trying to figure out what the blonde meant. However, because of the minor distraction, Ino looked over at Choji and gave him an impatient look. "Well?! Are you going to come help me or not?!"

Choji blinked out of his stupor before grinning and lunging forward and began to attack the large one with Shikamaru's help. This also made the other Shinobi stop staring and rush forward to help the women.

Kakashi, however, paused to look at Sakura, who was only shaking her head. "Uh..." He couldn't really find a way to ask his question. Sakura blinked once before looking at him with a smirk. "You do realize that all of them are daughters of Shinobi, like me, right? Do you really think our fathers would have just let us live our lives without teaching us a little about Shinobi techniques? Like they really want us to go out into the world without being able to defend ourselves." she told him. Kakashi stared at her for a minute before his face softened. He was definitely amused by that look. So he nodded. But then remembering why they were there snapped back to him. His eye widened and he threw a hand out towards the pink haired girl. "Go, Sakura! Break down the door quickly!" he yelled as he rushed towards the startled Four Sound.

Sakura nodded firmly as she dashed towards the large doors, her legs pumping hard as she began to draw Chakra towards her fist. She knew she needed to act quickly before Orochimaru caught onto what was going on. She almost made it to the door too if it hadn't been for the Sound Ninja, Kimimaro acting just as quick. He had escaped from getting kicked by Rock Lee and Gai, before throwing out his hand hard towards the pink haired girl. To the Leaf Shinobi and the women's shock, a small needle of bone shot right out of his hand, leaving a trail of blood trailing behind, heading directly towards Sakura. Everyone almost froze when they saw it strike her in the neck, throwing her to the side.

But they all froze again when there was an explosion of smoke as something had hit the ground. But it wasn't who they had expected.

* * *

In the Hokage's office, unaware of the fight going on outside the office, Orochimaru was standing before the Hokage, grinning in triumph as he looked his former sensai over. He knew he would win once this old fool surrendered to him and he was dead. It was only a matter of time. But for now, he wanted to have a little fun with this man. The Hokage was still standing rather tall and bold looking, giving the pale tyrant a cool look. He paused for a moment to look at Kabuto, who was standing next to him and holding his arm tightly so that he couldn't go anywhere. Then his eyes flickered over to Uchiha Itachi, who had his arms just folded over his chest as he leaned against the wall. However, there was a mild smirk on his face as he looked the Hokage over. It looked as if he knew something. That look, the Hokage decided, he didn't like. But then he turned his aged eyes back onto Orochimaru, who moved forward a step.

"How does it feel," The snake-like man paused as he began pacing before the old man. "How does it feel to know that you are about to die, old master? That your Shinobi have failed to protect you and this pathetic village? That I will become the ruler of this land?"

The Hokage lift his head, looking rather noble as he narrowed his eyes at Orochimaru, then shook it. "You have not won, Orochimaru. Nor will you. My Shinobi will defeat you, even if you kill me. You will fall, just like you and your army did off that cliff." He told him. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, un-amused at the answer. But then he paused as he let the words settle in his mind. "How did you know that I…..bah! It was probably that fool, Hatake or that moron, Minato who told you that my army fell. And by what?!" He whirled around and went to the balcony looking at the crowds below. "A pathetic pink haired woman." He smirked coldly as he lowered his eyes, searching for the pink head he hoped to find. "Hmph. When I get my hands on that girl, she will be sorry that she was ever born………" He froze.

His eyes laid on a certain person in the ground, a certain someone standing in between Namikaze-Uzumaki Minato and Morino Ibiki. That someone was looking calmly up at the balcony, back at him.

It was the real Hokage.

"How does it feel, Orochimaru," came that voice of Sakura, as her Transformation Jutsu fell. "How does it feel to know that you just lost the fight? Because of me?"

Orochimaru's eyes grew wider before he whirled around and turned an icy glare onto the pink haired woman before him, standing next to a flabbergasted Kabuto. His eyes caught sight of Itachi now grinning, as he looked the girl over. "You!" he exclaimed as he looked between Sakura and Itachi. "You…..! And you! You knew this wasn't the Hokage, Itachi?! And you didn't tell me?!"

"I am a tricky one, after all, Orochimaru. That's why I scare you. Besides, you should have figured it out for yourself. You're the Great Orochimaru, after all." Itachi said with dark amusement.

Orochimaru glared at Itachi for a long moment. He was definitely not happy about this at all. No, he was actually furious. Once again, he had been thwarted. "I will deal with you later, Itachi." He then looked at the smirking pink haired girl, giving her a very dangerous look. "You have once again messed up my plans, girl! How did you do it? How did you switch places with the Hokage?"

Sakura just smiled deviously as she shifted her weight and placed her and onto her slender waist. "It was so easy. All I had to do was go talk to the Hokage, himself."

**_Flashback_**

_Sakura ran away from the Noodle Stand where she had left the other Shinobi. She was so furious with Kakashi! Why did he have to be so impossible?! But she had a plan, no less. Now only to see if it worked. She quickly ducked into an alley and created a Clone of herself. She gave it orders to try and convince the people of Konohagakure that they were in danger while she went to warn the Hokage. With a nod to each other, Sakura and her clone rushed off in different directions.  
__It hadn't been easy on trying to sneak into the Hokage's building. There were ANBU all over the place, guarding the halls. She had almost gotten caught several times. But with luck on her side, she hadn't. But then she finally found where the Hokage was staying. The doors were well guarded though. There were two ANBU protecting the doors, so she knew that she couldn't just waltz up to the doors as herself. With a frown, she tried a transformation of Minato. She did pretty well to making herself look like him. Once she had transformed, she walked towards the doors. _

_It worked for a few seconds. _

_The ANBU bowed to her, thinking that she was Minato. They even started to step aside to let her pass, that is until the real Minato stepped up right behind her and placed his hand onto her shoulder. They were furious that this girl had tricked them and even started to pull Kunai to punish her. _

_However, Minato held up a hand and shook his head. Then he smiled at Sakura, who smiled back. _

_Moments later, they both walked into the Hokage's office, while he was still speaking to Ibiki about the ceremony. They both stopped and looked at Sakura with surprise. It only surprised Sakura more when Ibiki just smiled at her in a wry way but nonetheless, he actually looked happy to see her. _

_"Who might you be, young lady?" The Hokage asked in a kind tone. _

_So Sakura told him. She told him her name, who her father was and what she had done. Then she quickly told him that Orochimaru was alive. Some of the other guards didn't look convinced. Ibiki didn't even look convinced. He was frowning with a doubtful look on his face but the Hokage slowly nodded, looking like he believed her. And he told her that he did. _

_"Orochimaru is too powerful to be killed by falling off a cliff, my young Shinobi. I believe this girl. Now the only thing we must do is prepare for a fight. We must evacuate the Village immediately." The Hokage said gravely. __Sakura then shook her head. "Actually, your honorable Hokage, if I may. I have a plan that can fool Orochimaru very well. It's really risky but I think it might work." She said. The Hokage frowned but then nodded for her to go on. "Hokage-sama, I will go out there as you while you can go as someone else. That way, Orochimaru will think I'm you and will attack me while you are safe. Once he does that, I can finish the deed of what I started." _

_"Sakura," Minato spoke sternly. He obviously didn't like this plan. "No, I can't let you do that. You could be killed." _

_Sakura shook her head as she gave him a smile. "Please let me do this, Minato-sempai. I want to do it. I want to save the Hokage from that monster. If I die, I die with honor. At least I would have done something worth while. Besides, there's a chance that I won't. If I can get Orochimaru to attack me right where the others are, we can all take him out together. That way, the Hokage will be safe." She told him. Minato still didn't look happy with the plan. He just kept shaking his head as he refused to let her do this to herself. "Sakura, I promised your father that I would keep you alive. What will I tell him if you die?" He asked, moodily. __The pink haired girl just paused for a moment before she smiled and shook her head. "Tell him that his Cherry tree didn't let the wind blow her over." She smiled even more when Minato blinked in surprise. "He'll know what that means." She then turned to the Hokage, waiting for what he had to say. _

_There was a pause before the Hokage's face softened. He seemed to understand rather well. So with a nod, he looked to Minato and Ibiki. "We shall give this plan a try. However, if the time does come where I am safe and Sakura-chan is in grave danger, Minato, you will intervene. You and Kakashi." _

_Minato slowly nodded as he looked at the pink haired girl, who looked away. "Speaking of Kakashi, what about him, Sakura? What will you do if..." He was asking. _

_Sakura sighed as she shook her head and met the golden haired Shinobi's eyes. She obviously didn't want to talk about the silver-white haired ninja right now. It hurt right then. "Kakashi made up his mind about me a while ago, Minato-sempai. I am a liar and a deceiver in his eyes. I don't care what happens to me, just as long as he'll be okay." She told him before she turned away from a forlorn Minato. He obviously didn't believe that for a second. _

_Moments later, she was disguised as the Hokage with Minato, Ibiki and the Hokage disguised as his own grandson, at her sides as they made their way out for the celebration. She met with Kakashi and her fellow Shinobi, pretending to be the Hokage. She even told the silver-white haired Shinobi what she believed in her heart. And while telling him that his father would be proud, she had the sudden urge to throw her arms around him and hug him. Letting him know that he as not alone. She wanted to tell him something else but it wasn't appropriate. _

_And then Hell broke loose when Orochimaru decided to attack._

_**End Flashback**_

Sakura finished telling Orochimaru exactly how she had done it, how she had saved the Hokage. She felt the pleasure of seeing how angry the pale tyrant was. She smirked coolly seeing how his pale face was slowly turning red from rage. She knew that he knew he had failed. His plans were ruined. He had lost the war.

"Why are you smiling, baka-onna?" asked Kabuto as he roughly grabbed her arm, tightening his grip that it really hurt. Sakura yelped in pain as she found herself thrown down to her knees before Orochimaru. "You are about to die."

Orochimaru slowly nodded as he lift his hand to his mouth and began to pull out his long sword from within his body. He had had enough of this girl. She had ruined everything. At least he would have the last satisfaction of seeing her blood spilt on the wood floor beneath his feet. "Beg for mercy, pinky." The tyrant hissed before raising his sword to slash her head off.

And then he swung.

However, moments before it happened, all of the Shinobi had defeated the Four Sound, with the help of the women. They had been very surprised on how willful these women were. They had the spirits of Shinobi, even if they weren't. Anko was sure a wild woman as she helped Gai and Rock Lee fight Kimimaro and together, they nearly tore all the bones from his body until he was in nothing but pieces. Tenten and Temari helped Shikamaru and Neji defeat the four armed Sound, Kidomaru and together, he was down for the count, for good. Choji and Ino had worked together in taking out the Chakra eating jumbo, Jirobo. By the end of it, Choji had used up most of his chakra and surprisingly to Ino, he was not that big. Once he was out of Chakra, he actually had a very nice build. His body structure was actually very nice to look at, Ino decided. The others were defeated.

But Kakashi and Naruto was staring at the wooden log that had replaced Sakura. They realized it after a minute of staring. Sakura had not been Sakura. She had never been there. She had used a substitution technique, as well as the clone. But where was she then? Was she safe? For some reason, they knew that she was in trouble.

"Kakashi!" Sasuke yelled from looking out one of the windows.

Kakashi jerked around before rushing over to the black haired Shinobi. He looked out into the crowd, hoping to see Sakura with Minato but to his greater pleasure and horror, she wasn't. But the Hokage was. He felt as if his insides just turned to ice as he immediately knew what was going on. It just hit him. He had a feeling he knew exactly where Sakura was.

"Hey! It's the Hokage! But if he's down there, then who's...?!" Naruto was asking before he jerked around when Kakashi bolted towards the door. "Huh?!"

Even Sasuke was rushing after him, for he caught on too. His eyes wide with shock and anxiety as he hurried. "Damn it! Why did she have to go do that?! Is she trying to get herself killed?!" He exclaimed. Naruto and Sai were quickly following after, both frowning, as did the others. They weren't sure what was wrong, but it wasn't good. "What?! What is it?! What's wrong?!" Naruto asked frantically before stopping with the others as Kakashi was now trying to pull the heavy doors open.

"The Hokage is safe!" Sasuke yelled as he went to help.

This brought cheers from the other Shinobi as they looked around at one another. The concept hadn't really hit them just yet of what was truly wrong. However, Shikamaru, Neji and Shino seemed to catch on with Kakashi, Sasuke and Sai. Especially with Neji now looking through the walls. His face fell and paled to nearly pure white when he saw what was really behind these doors. "NO! Sakura's up there with Orochimaru!" He yelled, shutting the others up very quickly. "She must have switched places with the Hokage, taking his place so that Orochimaru would take her instead!"

"No! You mean...!" Choji yelped as he ran with Ino beside him.

Kakashi gritted his teeth as he began pulling at the heavy doors. He knew that if he didn't hurry it up, Sakura was going to be doomed. He knew that she needed help now! Sasuke, on the other hand, nodded to the others. "Sakura's going to die if we don't get up there right now! Orochimaru is going to kill her!"

"MOVE!" shouted Kiba as he charged at the doors with Akamaru.

Everyone whirled around to see Kiba and Akamaru glowing bright red with a berserker rage in their eyes. It was obvious that they had just used one of their more insane techniques. But still, they knew that if they didn't get out of the way now, they were going to get hurt. So everyone jumped to the side as both, boy and dog crashed against the doors. It somewhat worked. The doors now had violent cracks in them now, but it still wasn't enough.  
Choji figured it was his turn.  
Puffing up as large as he could, he threw his hands together into a sign with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Arrghh!!" He yelled before blowing really big and then went spinning right into the doors, creating a huge explosion. Splinters of wood went flying everywhere, making several of his comrades flinch but nonetheless, the doors were destroyed. Immediately, Kakashi was running through with the others quickly following after. They all bolted up the stairs, heading up to the Hokage's office, where they burst into the large quarters, and froze. Everyone was surprised to see what had just happened.

Standing in between Orochimaru and Sakura, Itachi was slumped over a little as Orochimaru's sword had penetrated the center of his hand. There was a lot of blood running down his forearm now but he didn't pay any attention to them at all. His eyes, his Sharingan eyes glared right at the stunned snake-man. Sakura was still on her knees, with Kabuto still holding onto her arm tightly. But both of them were looking at Itachi with such surprise.

"...what...Itachi! What is the meaning of this?!" Orochimaru yelled with outrage.

Itachi gritted his teeth before he roughly shoved Orochimaru away from him, pulling his hand free from the sword. He ignored the wound in his hand as he stepped back, panting in pain and still glaring at Orochimaru. "You have caused this girl enough pain, Orochimaru. And I serve you no longer. Only a coward harms a woman." He said coldly. Orochimaru glared at him icily before lowering the bloody sword. "You killed your mother, didn't you?"

"Like I said. Only a coward harms a woman. Therefore, I am a coward. However," Itachi smirked as he turned his eyes over to the side as soon as the Shinobi joined them. "My deeds here are done. And you will die." He said before he made quick hand signs and vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Orochimaru blinked in surprise before jerking his head around to see the group of Shinobi as they glared darkly at him. They even started forward as if to charge him. But acting quickly, the snake lashed out his long tongue, grabbing Sakura around the neck and yanking her towards him. Sakura yelped in alarm and gasped for air as the long slimy tongue tightened around her throat. She tried to fight to get away from him, but Orochimaru wrapped his arm around her waist. He held up the sword towards her face, making her and her friends freeze.

"Sakura!" Several of the Shinobi yelp but they didn't move anymore.

Kakashi's face darkened as he glared at Orochimaru, straightening his body but still not moving another step. He didn't like the looks of Sakura being trapped by this monster. But if he moved another step, it was more than likely that Orochimaru was going to slice her throat with his sword. With only a hard look on his face, he pushed up his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan eye. "Give up, Orochimaru. You kill Sakura, we kill you. It's that plain and simple."

"I'm sure, Hatake." Orochimaru said coolly. "But I am so sure that you would rather have this flower alive more than dead. So therefore, you will back off now. Or I will kill her."

Kakashi frowned but knew that if he didn't, Sakura would get hurt. He didn't want to see that. He felt helpless not being able to help her in this mess. He could see that she was starting to turn red from the lack of air. So he took a step back, as did everyone else.

"And if you continue to do that, Nara, I will make sure to slit her throat before your shadow technique reaches me." Orochimaru warned.

All eyes flickered over to the now cursing Shikamaru as he had been trying to send one of his shadow techniques over to save Sakura but had no choice but to call it back. There didn't seem to be a thing that they could do to help her. Kakashi just kept his eye sternly on Orochimaru, though it flickered over to Sakura, who was still gasping for air. "Don't worry, Sakura. I'll help you soon." He promised out loud. Sakura looked right into his eye but nodded as she tried to smile. Orochimaru, on the other hand, just laughed as he moved his face closer to Sakura's neck, baring his snake like fangs. He smirked when the Shinobi tensed to see that he was about to bite into her neck. And they all knew that he was in deed like a snake. He carried poison in his fangs. "No." Kakashi muttered as he almost took a step forward.

That was then Sakura slammed her kunai into Orochimaru's side.

"Arrggh!" Orochimaru yelled as he immediately released her, throwing her forward. He stumbled back a little, grabbing at the kunai, but freezing as it started to sizzle. His eyes jerked downward to see that there were two explosive tags wrapped around the handle and the blade. That wasn't good. "Kabuto! Kill her!" He yelled before there was an explosion, sending Sakura flying a little and crashing right into Kakashi, who wrapped his arms around her to keep her from falling. He nearly went down to one knee from the impact though. Orochimaru's henchman, Kabuto, however, was going to obey. He rushed forward, his eyes flashing dangerously as he held up a glowing blue hand, which Sakura recognized as a Chakra blade. It was some type of medical technique that could also be used as a weapon. And it was pointing directly at her.

Suddenly, there were two black blurs right between Sakura and Kakashi and Kabuto. Both Sasuke and Sai were glaring darkly at the gray haired youth as they immediately snapped into a fighting position. Sai also had out his paint book and a brush, already painting something down. "Stay away from her." He said emotionlessly before he and Sasuke jumped forward to begin their fight with him. They attacked as one, and within seconds, they had him down on the ground.

The fight with Orochimaru, on the other hand, was not over just yet. For when the smoke cleared up, everyone was horrified to see a giant white snake with Orochimaru's face slithering right out of his body. Sakura cowered back in horror against Kakashi, who tightened his hold on her as he looked just as horrified. The others were already moving back with wide eyes.

"Oh my...!" Gai yelped as he slapped a hand onto Lee's shoulder, who also cowered.

Kakashi frowned as he kept his arm around Sakura, who was looking up at the white snake as he rose out of the human skin he wore before. She was terrified out of her wits to see such a sight but she was going to try and manage. "Is that..."

"Yes." came Anko's reply as she moved forward, her eyes narrowing. "That is Orochimaru. The real Orochimaru."

The Shinobi looked at her in surprise. None of them had actually realized that she knew Orochimaru. Even Hana, who was closer to Anko more than the others. They all just stared at her with surprise as she looked up at Orochimaru's new white scaly form. "Anko, how..." started Tenten.

Anko shook her head as she narrowed her eyes at the villain. "Long ago, before he was banished from the Fire Country, Orochimaru took me into his home off the streets when I had no where else to go. He adopted me. Think of him as my father. But, he abandoned me when he tried to commit all of those crimes. He left me to be alone, and then it was Ibiki who took care of me, like a father." Her eyes hardened. "Be careful. He's more dangerous this way." She turned around and started towards the doors. "I would think it better if we, the women, left this part to the men." She told them before leaving. Everyone just stared before Kakashi nodded to the women, his arm dropping from Sakura's sides. "Yes. Leave this to us. You ladies just get to safety." He told them before he and the men started forward. All but Sakura left the room. The Shinobi looked at her in surprise but she shook her head. "I'm Shinobi too, remember? Woman or not. We are a team, comrades. I won't let you have all the fun." She said giving Kakashi a pointed look. Everyone just smiled, though Kakashi just stared dryly. He wanted her to go too but she refused. "I mean it, Kakashi. I'm not leaving."

There was a pause before Kakashi's face changed, making him look like he was definitely smiling. He gave a nod before everyone turned sharply to face the giant white snake. "All right, men and lady! This is it! We end this now! Orochimaru threatened the lives of our people, killed our fellow Shinobi, tried to kill our Hokage and threatened one of our best Shinobi," The Elite said glancing at Sakura, who kept her stare forward. "Let's show him what happens when he messes with us!"

"Hai!" shouted all of the Shinobi in the room.

Immediately they all charged at the giant white snake, who hissed angrily and tried to attack back. All of the Shinobi began moving to avoid getting bit by the evil snake and to their luck, they managed it. All at once, they began to attack Orochimaru's long scaly body with Taijutsu. Sakura slammed her fists into the snake's body, along with everyone else. Orochimaru hissed angrily and began to thrash around. His long tail nearly knocked into the Shinobi and crashed through the walls of the Hokage Palace, causing the walls to collapse. There were screams outside as debris fell but none of the Shinobi paid attention to them. They needed to focus on their enemy for now. Continuing on rushing forward, everyone attacked the giant snake as viciously as they could. Sakura was calling chakra to her hands to help and punching hard. The snake hissed in pain a few times before jerking around and lashing at her with his fangs. Sakura gasped as the fangs came too close to biting into her as she tried to jump forward. But before the fangs could bite into her, Naruto leapt into the air and came down hard on Orochimaru's head, slamming it down to the ground with his fist then he flipped off its head, grinning at Sakura.

Angrily, Orochimaru really began to thrash around violently, crashing against the walls until the roof started to collapse. All of the Shinobi had to start jumping out of the way to avoid wood and stone landing on their heads.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME WITH SIMPLE TAIJUTSU?! WRONG?! I AM OROCHIMARU, THE IMMORTAL! I WILL NOT DIE!" Orochimaru hissed as he thrashed his long body, knocking everyone back away from him.

Every one of the Shinobi jumped back away from Orochimaru, looking at him with determination and strength in their eyes. They were not going to show any fear for this evil villain. All of them were practically standing all around Orochimaru, glaring at him.

"Do you know what makes a good Shinobi, Orochimaru?" Sakura asked, standing directly in front of the giant white snake with Kakashi beside her. The snake's black eyes looked at her, hatefully but before he could reply, the pink haired girl shook her head as she lift her chin higher. "Discipline and Determination! But there is one very important thing that really makes a true Shinobi!" she hollered as she threw back her fist, and as she did, so did the others.

"A true Shinobi never gives up!" All of them yelled before calling as much Chakra as they could. Each with one of their greatest techniques, the Shinobi rushed forward, one at a time.

"Dynamic Entry!" Gai shouted as he and Rock Lee raced forward, one on each side of Orochimaru. They both sent a flying kick at the giant snake and hitting his long body hard, causing huge dents near the tail.

"Eight Trigram Palms-Heavenly Spin." Neji said calmly before he began to spin rather rapidly in circles and attack Orochimaru. Beside him, Shino rose his arms and threw them forward, as millions of bugs began to crawl out of his sleeves and shot forward, not attacking the giant snake, eating away at the Chakra he possessed. Choji puffed into a large ball, much like he had done to the door moments before and began to spin like a ball and slamming into the hard scales of Orochimaru's body. On the other side, Shikamaru was in a crouch with his hands locked into a hand sign while the very shadows in what was left of the room was coming to life and wrapping around the white body of Orochimaru, squeezing hard. Both Kiba and Akamaru were slashing at the villain, looking rather feral together before leaping forward with a shout, "Piercing Fang!" And together they began to spin like a sidewards drill and began slashing the white body.

Sai was the only one standing back while he was rapidly painting on the floor and activating the pictures to life, pictures of large vicious animals which were now attacking with the Shinobi before bursting into ink as more of Sai's paintings were coming to life and attacking.

"Chidori!" Sasuke yelled as a large ball of blue electricity formed into his hand and he charged forward, shoving it hard towards Orochimaru, which began to slice through his scales, causing Orochimaru to really start hissing in pain. Right behind him, Naruto was rushing forward with two of his clones while all of them were holding a large blue ball of spinning energy. "Wind Release! Spiraling Sphere!" All three of them shouted as they rushed forward and threw the ball right into Orochimaru's body. The intense spinning air and energy began to severely damage the snake, cutting into his body. Sakura was just pounding the crap out of Orochmaru's white body with her fists, using the technique that Gai had taught her. Loud cracks were coming from within in Orochimaru's, proving that she was breaking something in there.

Then everyone leapt back, all panting with the lack of energy of using some of their most intense attacks. They all were almost slumped over as they just stared wide eyed at the still alive villain. "Kuso! You have got to be kidding me! He's still alive! After all of that, he's still moving!" Gai cursed as he and Lee leaned against one another.

Suddenly there was a loud crack, making all eyes jerk around to see that Kakashi was in a crouch with a large blue ball of electricity in his hand and a ring swirling around him as he glared up at the snake. By the looks of it, he was about to use a very dangerous technique, and a powerful one at that. "Lightning Blade!" was all he said before he ran forward in a bright blue blur. Everyone watched as he leaped into the air and threw his glowing hand forward. Orochimaru had turned his head just in time to see him coming, his black eyes growing wide. But it was too late to avoid the attack. All the giant white snake was hiss at Kakashi, recieving the blunt of the attack right through the mouth. Kakashi, however, seemed to become a knife of destruction, slicing right through Orochimaru's head.

There was a loud explosion, causing everyone to cover their heads before they were thrown back away from Orochimaru, who actually did explode. And whatever was left of the Hokage's quarters were blown away. Body parts of the giant snake was incinerated by Kakashi's attack though, leaving only the mangled body of the giant snake falling to the ground with a splat. Kakashi, however, landed on the ground in a crouch before standing up and not looking back at all. Once everything settled, all of the Shinobi who had been knocked off their feet stood up and looked at the remains of Orochimaru's snake form.

Lord Orochimaru was finally dead. And for good this time.


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews! **

**Yea! It's finally over! Well, at least the fight with Orochimaru is. Now it's time for the aftermath. Is Sakura and the crew in trouble for destroying the Hokage's quarters? What will happen after that? What will Kakashi finally say to Sakura? Find out now! Read and Review, please!**

**Naruto-Heart of Honor: Fifteen**

The Shinobi all just stood around the remains of Orochimaru, looking at the massive snake body. They all looked rather impassive as they just stood there, staring. None of them said anything for a very long time. But after almost ten long minutes, all of the friends looked at one another before they all slowly smiled at one another. Then Naruto, Lee, Choji and Kiba jumped into the air, pumping fists with triumph. The others only smiled or shook their heads.

They had won. They had defeated Orochimaru and his men. And they had saved the life of the Hokage. They were the victors.

Sakura smiled as she watched some of her friends practically dance around, doing very strange victory dances while the others just stood around, watching silently and smiling. This was definitely very amusing to her. But her attention, however, went to Kakashi. He was watching the whole fray and she couldn't tell if he was smiling under that mask of his or not. He was so hard to read sometimes. So impossible. Sakura shook her head as she looked around at the mess that they and the wicked snake had made. She only hoped that the Hokage wouldn't be too mad about this. She wouldn't blame him if he did. It was his quarters after all. His office and his home that they just trashed. There was hardly any room at all. The pink haired girl paused when she spotted her father's kunai lying on the ground near the large white snake's body. She just smiled before going over to pick it up. she would never forgive herself if she lost that. She planned on giving that back to her father when she returned home.

Without a word, she bent down to pick it up, only to jump when someone grabbed her roughly from behind and yanked her against them. She could only yelp in surprise, getting everyone's attention.

"Sakura!" Several of the Shinobi exclaimed but they froze when her attacker yanked the kunai from Sakura's grip, holding it up to her throat.

It was Kabuto.

Sakura tried to pull away but stopped when she felt her kunai touch her throat, making her freeze. She did not want to get her throat slit open by this guy. So she just stood there, looking at her friends before her.

Kakashi had moved a step forward but stopped when Kabuto began to press the kunai against her throat. He could not move again without her getting hurt. "Kabuto, let her go. She's no use to you. Your master is dead. You are completely surrounded by Shinobi. Give it up." He said calmly.

"Sorry. But I had one last order from Orochimaru. He wanted her dead, so dead she shall be." Kabuto said smirking before he began to dig the kunai into Sakura's throat, and then froze. He could not move anymore. "What?! What the...!" He gasped before looking at Shikamaru who was now holding his hands outward to him, a sly smirk on his face. The procrasinated genius of a Genin was looking rather dangerous as he looked at Kabuto before he straightened himself to be in the same position the gray haired Sound Ninja was. "Do you honestly think," He began dryly. "That I'm going to let you hurt Haruno? She is one of us." He told him before he threw out his hand down, opening it. And like a mimicry, Kabuto had no choice but to do the same. He cried out in surprise and alarm when the kunai was out of his hand. Then he was forced to release Sakura when Shikamaru opened his other hand.

Sakura immediately stepped away from the gray haired Shinobi before she turned around and gave him a very cold look. She was definitely pissed about that. "How dare you even touch me or my father's kunai?!" She growled before she rose a fist and threw it back, ready to punch this guy.

"Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute, Sakura!" Shikamaru yelled to her. The pink haired girl frowned as she looked over her shoulder at her fellow Leaf Shinobi with a questionable look. Everyone did the same, frowning in confusion. All of the Shinobi were actually looking forward to seeing her deck Kabuto out. But why did Shikamaru stop her? The lazy Shinobi shook his head as he made a few hand signs before his shadow connecting with Kabuto's pulled away, freeing the gray haired Sound ninja. Then he waved a hand, smirking. "Okay. Now you can hit him." He told her.

Grinning wickedly, Sakura whirled back to look at the surprised Kabuto before she really let him have her fist. She slammed her fist hard into the side of his face, sending him flying nearly ten feet away from her. He was outcold even before he even hit the ground. Then with a satisfied look on her face, the pink haired girl dusted off her hands and smirked. "That's what you get for messing with me, you jerk!" She said before she turned giving Shikamaru a thankful grin and a wink. "Thanks, Shika!"

Shikamaru only nodded back as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. The other Shinobi just laughed and shook their heads, while Kakashi smiled under his mask. He was definitely amused by what just happened. His eyes met Sakura's and he gave her a nod of approval. Sakura just smiled back at him before she picked up her kunai and started over to her friends again as they went back to their celebrating.

Suddenly, there was a shout and a loud bang as the remains of the Hokage's doors slammed open. Everyone whirled around with surprise to see several ANBU filing into the room, now moving towards the group of Shinobi. One of the ANBU, who Kakashi and Gai knew very well by reputation moved forward, glaring towards the group. His name was Danzo. He was not a very nice man, nor was he liked by anyone. At least at some sense. He was a very strict and intolerant man, especially by the rules of Shinobi.

"Where is she?! Where is that girl who has caused all of this chaos?!" Danzo demanded as he stormed forward. But when his eyes caught sight of a startled pink haired Sakura, he glared at her as he stormed towards her, pointing a finger. "Arrest that girl!"

That startled every single one of the Shinobi. They looked wildly at Sakura, whose face went very pale as she stepped back with her hands across her chest. They knew that she was in serious trouble, but exactly why? She had done nothing wrong. Was it because of what she did before, joining the army as a man? Or was it because of the destruction of the Hokage Building? Either way, none of the Shinobi were going to just stand there and do nothing. All of them immediately moved forward and stood around Sakura in a protective manner.

Kakashi and Gai in the front, folding their arms. "What are you talking about, Danzo?! Why are you arresting Sakura?!" asked the black haired, bowl cut Shinobi Elite.

"She has committed serious crimes, Maito!" Danzo snapped as he stood directly in front of the Shinobi, his eyes still on Sakura. "She has committed treason, lied to an official Shinobi, and has caused this mess!" He threw his arms around the room. "By rights, she should have been killed the very minute she was found out!"

Kakashi shook his head as he gave Danzo a very cool look. He was not going to just let this old man insult Sakura, not after all that she had done now. He had kept his silence before when it came to her but he was not going to do it again. "She is a hero, Danzo! She just helped us defeat Orochimaru's army and she has saved the life of the Hokage!" He said roughly.

Danzo shook his head as he motioned his ANBU forward to grab a hold of Sakura. But before any one of them could move, several blurs rushed past them and the rest of the Shinobi army were there. Asuma, Iruka, Genma, everyone. They were all giving Danzo a very hard look as if daring him and his men to even touch Sakura. Even Sakura's female friends moved forward to protect her.

Ino glared fiercely at the old man and the ANBU, her fists in tight balls. "Touch Billboard head and you will be dealing with me, old fart!" She snapped.

That brought a grin from some of the Shinobi. Choji actually smiled goofily as he stared at her. "Oh, yeah. I'm really beginning to like her." He muttered to Shikamaru, who smirked back and shook his head.

"How dare you!" Danzo snapped at Ino. He shook his head as he threw his finger towards her. "I should have you arrested as well! This is treason! That girl has lead the entire Shinobi Army into deception and she has broken serious Shinobi laws! She will be killed right here and now! As for those vixens," He motioned to the other women. "You all will dishonor your families! Women are to be seen, not heard!"

This didn't seem to sit too well with the Shinobi who were defending Sakura. Some of them actually had outbursts and started forward only to have the Elites hold them back. Kakashi just shook his head as he gave Danzo a serious look. "All of these women has helped us a great deal, Danzo-san. They should be honored, not scolded. They have done well." He said still calm, but there was a hint of anger on his tone.

Danzo gave him a sharp look. "They are women! Women should be punished for speaking out place! They are worth nothing but..."

"Shut up, you old baka!" Naruto roared as he started to leap forward. He wasn't the only one who looked ready to teach this old man a lesson. Several of the Shinobi looked like they wanted to beat him. Beside Kiba, Akamaru was snarling and baring his teeth at the man. Even some of them shouted their outrage.

"That will be enough!"

Everyone went quiet when they heard that demand. All heads turned to see the Hokage walking into the room with Minato, Ibiki and surprisingly Uchiha Itachi behind him. They all looked rather grave as they walked towards the large group. The Hokage walked right up to the Shinobi protecting Sakura before tilting his head to see her.

Kakashi immediately stepped forward to defend her. "Hokage-sama, I will take full responsibility..." He was saying but shut up when the Hokage held up a hand for silence.

And when the Hokage motioned for them to step aside so he could see Sakura, all of the Shinobi hesitated but then did as they were told, though Sakura was moving past them anyway. She bowed before the Hokage, staying bent at the waist in front of him. The Hokage looked Sakura over before he slowly shook his head. He didn't look happy at all. Especially when he let his eyes make an observation of what used to be his living quarters and office. He paused as they landed on the dead body of Orochimaru but then slowly went back to Sakura, who remained bowing. "I have heard a great deal about you, Haruno Sakura. I have heard of what you did. You stole your father's Shinobi supplies and the War orders. You entered the Shinobi Army under the pretense of being a man. You lied and decieved a commanding Shinobi. No, you lied and decieved the entire Shinobi Army! Much damage has been caused because of your deception! The Hokage Building has been completely destroyed!" His voice rose rather loudly, making Sakura flinch. And she wasn't the only one. Several of the Shinobi flinched but they didn't say anything but listened.

There was a moment's pause though as the Hokage's words echoed around the pink haired girl as she lowered her head even more, straightening a little. She didn't mean to straighten up but it didn't seem to bother the Hokage. She kept her eyes lowered to the ground, not daring to look up at all. She couldn't even spare Minato a glance, and she could feel his pity filled eyes on her.

"...However, you saved the life of the Highest ranked Shinobi in the Army with only a few weeks knowledge of medical techniques and you defeated half of Orochimaru's army with a single punch." the Hokage spoke more softly. This made Sakura blink in surprise before she lift her head and dared to look at the Hokage, whose face had gone very soft as he looked at her. Minato was now faintly smiling, as was Ibiki. "You saved countless of lives, including my own at the risk of your own life and your honor. You have even risked the honor of your clan. And you have saved the entire Fire Country. For that, I would have to say, all of Konohagakure owes you their lives. Therefore, an old man bows to you in great respect and many thanks." The Hokage said softly before he bowed.

Sakura blinked in surprise as she stared wide eyed at him. She could not believe her eyes. The Hokage was actually bowing to her, thanking her for what she had done. She was even more surprised when Minato and Ibiki both followed suit, bowing down to one knee in front of her and lowering their heads. She was ten times surprised when slowly all of her friends bent down to one knee, bowing before. She turned and looked wide eyed at them, noting smiles on their faces. She might not have been able to see it, but she knew that Kakashi was also smiling. Even Ino and the women were bowing to her. Uchiha Itachi was bowing to her, a faint smile on his face. And he had once been an enemy!

The only one not bowing was Danzo.

"Danzo-san," Spoke Sai quickly, catching everyone's attention. His head remained bowed and his eyes were closed but he was definitely talking to the old man. The emotionless Shinobi finally lift his head and opened his eyes, giving the old man a very dry look. "Haruno Sakura-kun has just saved the million lives of the Fire Country, including your own. The least you can do is bow your head to her. Or are you that stupid and too proud to bow to a woman?"

That was rather shocking. No one had even expected Sai to stand up for Sakura. He hardly ever said a word to her during the training anyway, much less looked at her. They weren't even that close either. But here he was, defending her. Her, Haruno Sakura. A woman.

There was a pause before Danzo sighed and then dipped his head in what seemed to be a bow, but he was not going to bow any lower. He was too stubborn of a man to do so. But either way, Sakura was touched as she looked around at every bowed head. Not a single person other than the Hokage and Danzo were standing up. They were all bowing to her. She couldn't really believe it, even though it was happening. She looked around at them before turning her eyes onto the Hokage, when he straightened, smiling at her.

"Now, Haruno-kun. For your service to the Fire Country, I would like to reward you a permanant position as Shinobi. You have earned the right to be called the first Kunoichi Elite." He told her.

This brought many smiles from the other Shinobi. Her friends began to smile and look at one another excitedly. They were definitely going to support her on this. Sakura, however, shook her head. "As much as I would love to accept all the credit, Hokage-sama, I can't. I couldn't do all of this without my friends." She looked around at her fellow Shinobi, smiling while they smiled back. "I had so much help from the Elites and my friends. And without the women's help," She looked to Ino and the other girls. "I don't think they would have gotten past the doors to help me in time. I owe most of my successes to them, and Minato-senpai." She told the Hokage as she looked at the golden haired Shinobi beside him.

Minato smiled at her but shook his head. "Sakura-kun, though you had help, you owe your successes to yourself. You have succeeded because you are the most stubborn but determined woman I have ever met." He said to her softly. Several of the other Shinobi nodded in agreement.

The Hokage just nodded as he glanced to his Shinobi General before looking back at the pink haired girl. "He is right. And I would still like to reward you a position among the Elites. You and your friends will be made Chunin, perhaps Jounin. You will all now hereby be equals with all of the Elites. Elites your selves. And as the first Kunoichi Elite, I would like you to be in charge of training new Kunoichi, Haruno-kun, as Kunoichi Commander. From now on, not only men will become Shinobi, but women."

Though everyone else looked excited to hear that. Especially the women. They all felt honored that they were now allowed to become Kunoichi. However, Sakura smiled and shook her head. She knew that this was a great honor to become a Commander. Especially a Kunoichi, a female ninja. But there was one thing that bothered her. She knew she could not stay. She had things to do before doing anything else. "With all due respect, Hokage-sama," She began, making all shush and look at her with surprise. "I must decline the offer."

"What?!" Several of her friends gasped, including Ino.

Sakura shook her head as she glanced around at them before looking back at the Hokage, who just smiled at her. It was if he knew what she was about to say but he motioned for her to say it anyway. "I have been away from home for nearly seven months now, Hokage-sama. It's time for me to return to my family, to reassure them that I'm okay. I should go home to them and let them know what I've been through. I miss them. I miss my father and my mother. I miss our cherry orchards. It's time for me to go home. So I must decline your offer." She bowed to him at the waist. "Forgive me."

There was a short pause before the Hokage faintly smiled and he nodded. He reached out and gently took her arm, surprising her. Gently, he pulled her with him towards the remainders of the balcony. The Shinobi watched in curousity but somewhat followed. They all stood behind as the Hokage pulled Sakura out onto the balcony, overlooking the entire village, at all of the people below. There were cheers when they saw him. They all were glad that he was okay. But slowly, everyone went quiet when he released Sakura and held up his hands for silence.  
Once it was quiet, the Hokage lowered his hands and folded them before him. "My beloved people, today we celebrate the freedom of the Fire Country. We have been saved by Lord Orochimaru and his Sound Shinobi." As expected there was a burst of cheers. But again, the Hokage held up a hand for silence. "There have been many losses, as we all know. Loved ones have lost fathers, brothers, uncles and friends. But they will never be forgotten. Every name of the men who lost their lives in this terrible war will be written down for history. They will all be remembered as the greatest heros in Konohagakure. However, if we all would not be here if it weren't for some of our Shinobi. Lord Orochimaru and his Shinobi have been defeated by a some of our most talented Shinobi. If it were not for them this night, we would have lost our freedom and perhaps our lives." The Hokage then looked at Sakura. "However, there is one thing that none of us had ever counted on. There is a certain amount of courage that none of us could have dreamed of. The courage to stand up and fight for what we believed in, even if others didn't agree. And the one with that courage has my greatest respect. That one is this young woman, right here. Haruno Sakura, of the Haruno Clan!"

There were murmurs in the crowd as several hundred people looked up with surprise. Sakura was definitely one of the most surprised of the entire crowd.

But the Hokage continued on. "This young woman has shown a great deal of courage, determination and skill. With her help, Lord Orochimaru was defeated! She, along with her fellow Shinobi, have saved us! She has broken traditions to create new ones! She has proven that even a woman can do some of the extreme. From this day forward, not only men will become Shinobi, but women too! Let this day be remembered forever! The birth of the Kunoichi shall begin from this moment on!"

Sakura had not expected the entire Village to burst into cheers and applause. She had actually expected that all of the men would deny her. They would reject the thought of a woman becoming Shinobi. But she was wrong. Every single person, man and woman, boy and girl, started cheering and screaming their approval. Almost every single villager rose their hands into tight balls in triumph. It was enough to bring tears of happiness to her eyes. She couldn't believe that she was actually being accepted.

"Haruno Sakura," The Hokage said again making her look at him. "You have done great in your servitude of the Shinobi Army. I give you my greatest gratitude, as does the entire County of Fire." He then touched the forehead protector she wore around her brow. "Take your Shinobi headband home so that your family will know that you have become a Shinobi." He then motioned to the crowd below still cheering her name. "And let the world hear your name, so that they will know what you have done for Konohagakure, for the Fire Country. You will always be remembered as the pink haired Shinobi, Haruno Sakura."

Sakura only smiled as she bowed her thanks to the elderly man. She didn't know what she could say to that. She was so happy that she was not in trouble with him. She was happy that she had changed the opinions of people all over for the good. She had done something that no woman ever dared to do. She had become a man, and then became a great Shinobi. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. And I'm sorry about your house." She said with a wince.

The Hokage chuckled as he looked around the ruins that had once been his living quarters before he shook his head. He didn't look troubled at all about it. "Oh, don't you fret, Haruno-chan. I was thinking about remodeling anyway." He told her then motioned to all of the smiling Shinobi and the women who had helped her.

All of the Shinobi she had trained with and befriended smiled at her as they moved forward and stood around her. They all were happy to know this brave young woman. All of the Elites were smiling as they nodded to her. Naruto grinned as he threw his arm around the pink haired girl's shoulder, giving her a one armed hug. "You did it, Sakura! You've saved Konohagakure! Great job!" He said rather loudly. Sakura winced a little but kept on smiling. She looked around at all of her friends. "Thanks, Naruto. But it's true what I said. I couldn't do it without all of you. I will never forget you, guys. Even though I decieved you and lied..."

"Sakura, we really don't care anymore." Kiba said grinning at her from the crouch he was in. His hand was running through Akamaru's fur, who was wagging his tail so hard that it shook his whole body. "You're our friend. That's all that matters."

Everyone nodded in agreement. They all agreed with Kiba about what he said. They didn't care if Zaku was actually Sakura and was a girl. She had done more than they could even imagine and they liked to think that she would stay as their friend. Sakura felt the same as she looked around. "Thank you all. And thank you, senpai." She said looking at all of the Elites standing around her. "If it weren't for all of you, I wouldn't know what I had needed to know to survive this war. Thank you."

All of the Elites smiled at her before they bowed their heads to her in respect. Gai just gave her a sparkling grin and a thumbs up, which Rock Lee immediately followed suit. "No thank you, Sakura, for helping us. You have showed us what it takes to be a true Shinobi." Iruka said with a kind smile. Again, all of the Elites nodded. But then Sakura's eyes flickered over to Kakashi, who still remained in the back of the group, watching her interact with the others. She almost held her breath as she met his mismatched eyes but then let it out again before she pushed past her friends to go to him. All of the Shinobi, however, did not follow her. Instead, they all smiled as they watched her walk up ti the silver-white haired Shinobi Elite then every single one of them turned their backs to give them a little space. Instead, they began to talk to Ino, Hinata and the girls who each seemed to be fond of one of the Shinobi or the other.

Sakura stepped up to Kakashi, who kept his eyes on her. They faintly smiled at one another as they glanced over to the other Shinobi then back at one another. "Well, this is it. I'm heading home." The pink haired woman said as she folded her hands together.

There was a short awkward silence between them as Kakashi glanced away then back at her while rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah. I hope you get home safetly. I wish you all the luck in the world too." He told her.

"Hmm. You too." Sakura said, pausing again. She looked sheepishly away, while the Inner Sakura was screaming at her to do something, to say something. Anything to Kakashi. The inner personality was begging her to just kiss him or something. But she knew that wouldn't be proper. They were not even paired up with another as it was. Plus it would be way too weird. "Kakashi, what I said to you before, when I was pretending to be the Hokage, it was all true." Sakura told him as she tilted her head to the side. "You were a great Commander. I'm really happy that I got the chance to meet you and serve under you. Being Zaku or Sakura. Thank you for all that you've done for me. And I know that your father would be so proud of you if he was here today."

Kakashi looked directly into her eyes, a smile in them. He looked rather touched to hear that from her. But he couldn't find something to say. He wanted to say something, anything to her. But the words wouldn't come out. It was if they were lodged into his throat. But with a nod, he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "...Thank you...er, Sakura. I really appreciate it." He told her.

Another long awkward silence before Sakura breathed out a quiet sigh dipping her head to him. She wished he would have said something else but he hadn't. She felt almost disappointed that he hadn't. But it was up to him. He had said what he needed to. So it was time for her to go home. "I hope to see you around, Kakashi. And good luck." She told him as she started to walk away. There was a strange pinch in her chest. It hurt a little but she didn't acknowledge it. She had been disappointed that Kakashi didn't say more. But what was done was done. It was time for her to return home.

"Sakura." Kakashi suddenly said.

Sakura quickly turned on her heel, feeling a flicker of hope within her. Her eyes met his as she looked at him with hope and curosity. "Yes, Kakashi? Is there something you needed?" She asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

Kakashi opened his mouth to say what was on his mind but he just couldn't bring out the words. He was cursing himself inwardly as his mouth moved without sound. But then with a sigh, he gave her a soft look. "You did very well. You are certainly a true Shinobi. Thank you...for being there for us." He told her.

"Oh." Sakura said, slightly disappointed again but then she smiled at him and waved at him. "Thanks. And you're welcome. Goodbye, Kakashi." She then turned and walked away, still feeling slightly disappointed. But as she thought before, it was all that Kakashi needed to say.

Kakashi really wanted to punch himself for not telling her what he really wanted to say. His inner self was just screaming and hollaring at him about what a true idiot he was. He felt the greatest urge to go over to one of the still standing walls and just bash his head against it till it started bleeding. But he didn't. He just watched as Sakura walked away, disappearing around the corner. Only then did he realize that there was someone standing beside him. He turned his head to look at who it was and found that it was the Hokage, his sensai and his rival.

Minato was shaking his head along with Gai as they also watched Sakura vanish before they both turned to him. "Kakashi, as much as you are a genius," the black haired Taijutsu specialist said as he folded his arms. "You are the biggest idiot on the planet." And then he went back to the other Shinobi.

"What?" Kakashi asked in offense.

Both the Hokage and Minato shook their heads as they smiled forcefully at him. They had expected him to say something a little more to Sakura but were sorely disappointed that he hadn't. So it was up to them to fix things, or at least shove Kakashi in the direction. "Kakashi, there is an old saying that I was told by my father and his father told him. When a bee is in love with a spring flower, he usually hums what he feels." The Hokage told him, getting a confused look from the Elite.

Minato now shook his head as he patted Kakashi on the shoulder. "A girl like Sakura is not born every day. When you meet someone like her, you should reach out and take her and never let her go." He said and then he and the Hokage left Kakashi to ponder their words. They knew that sooner or later, those words would hit him. And he would make the right decision.


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews! **

**All right, Everyone. It's time for the last chapter. This is the last one so be ready to see what happens next. Read and Review. **

**Naruto-Heart of Honor: Sixteen**

The Haruno Compound was rather quiet as Sakura approached the gates. It had taken her almost a day to walk back. She was in a state of jitters as she went. She had taken her time on getting home, afraid of what would happen when she did get home. She was afraid that her father would be so mad at her and her mother would scream and holler at her. She wondered what would happen if she was disowned from the family. The thought of having to leave again really hurt.

Her jitters turned into icy fear as soon as she even saw the gates of her home. She was finally back. She had finally returned after nearly seven months at war. She wondered what would happen next as she just stood in front of the gates of her home, staring at the wood. She couldn't find herself to open the doors and poke her head in. She was too nervous.

But after almost fifteen minutes of standing there, she decided that she would sneak in. The first person she wanted to see was her father. She didn't want anyone else to see her just yet.

Sakura climbed up the wall of her family's compound and crouch low on top of it, looking down at the activities going on. She could already see that most of the workers were already at work, going about their daily chores. Her mother was hanging up bed sheets up on the clothesline, looking rather passive. The pink haired Shinobi felt her heart starting to pump harder to see her mom. She had missed her so much. But where was her father? There was only one place she could think of. So she walked along the wall, ducking now and then when she could have sworn someone was going to see her. And finally, she reached the Haruno Clan's cherry orchard. The trees were full of cherries now, with no cherry blossoms. It was still quite the garden though with summer blossoms.

There, Haruno Daisuke was sitting under their favorite tree.

Suke looked like he was asleep while sitting against the tree's trunk, but Sakura could tell that he wasn't. She had picked up the ability to read someone's expressions well after spending so much time with the men. There was a little sorrow on her father's face. A look of loneliness, sorrow and extreme worry. She knew that it was about her. It couldn't be anything else.

Sakura sat in the branches of one of the trees for a moment, watching her father as he just sat there. She felt her heart cracking a little to see that look on his face. She had never seen that look on his face before and it was very heart shattering. She never wanted to see it again. Without a word, she quietly climbed down the tree and approached her father as silently as she could. She frowned when he didn't respond as she moved closer. But as soon as she stopped ten feet away from him and stood in front of him, Suke's face changed a little. He was definitely sensing someone close by. After a minute, his eyes opened and he looked right at his daughter. He was surprised to see her there. He hadn't expected to see her again.

"Sakura." The old man whispered as he started to stand.

Sakura quickly moved forward, kneeling close to him so that he couldn't stand up. She would have rather that he sat down as she talked to him. Her hands quickly grabbed at the Shinobi forehead protector around her head and pulled it off. "Father, I'm home. I have brought news of the war's status. Lord Orochimaru and his Sound Ninja army has been defeated. The County of Fire is safe now." She told him before bowing her head as she lowered her forehead protector onto his lap. "I have brought home my proof that I have become Shinobi and have helped defeat the wicked Sanin. It's also a gift from the Honorable Hokage to uphold the Haruno Clan's honor."

Then before Suke, Sakura bent over, bowing before her father, not daring to look up into his eyes. She couldn't. She didn't want to see the look of anger in his eyes for what she had put him and her mother through. For dishonoring him and taking his place at the Shinobi Army camp. She didn't think she could bare it if she saw that look.

But Sakura was very surprised when Suke pushed the forehead protector off his lap and grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Oh, my little Sakura. The only honor I possess is having you for a daughter." Suke said with a voice full of emotion.

Sakura blinked in surprise as she was being hugged by her father but slowly, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him back. Tears of joy filled her eyes as she realized that her father was not angry. He was so happy that she was back safely and alive. "Father, I'm so sorry……"

Suke pulled away, keeping his hands onto her shoulders. He was smiling softly with tear-rimmed eyes. "My little cherry blossom, I don't care anymore. I don't care that you ran away from home to join the army. I'm only happy that you are back in my arms and safe from harm. I am only happy to see you again." He told her. Sakura smiled right back before she threw her arms around her father and hugged him tightly. She was so happy that he was taking a lot better than she had expected. And she was even happier that she was home. She had missed her father and mother so much. "Father, thank you." She whispered to him.

Later that evening, there was a small celebration at the Haruno Residence because of Sakura's return. Her father and mother had not stopped embracing her, not that anyone could blame them. The workers had helped set up a few decorations and some of her mother's workers cooked up a large meal to celebrate Sakura's honor. They were all happy to see her. All of them were begging Sakura to tell them about her Shinobi training and what it was like being surrounded by men. Even her parents wanted to hear about it. So Sakura told them everything. She told everyone how she ran away and disguised herself as a man. She told them about her first day and how she almost got kicked out. She even started laughing when the men did on how she explained Naruto's first reaction to her.

"Well, I don't know. Ramen is pretty good and you should never interrupt a man when he's trying to eat." One of the hands joked.

Sakura just rolled her eyes and continued on with the story of her training. She told her father how badly she struggled while training under Hatake Kakashi and the Shinobi Elites. Most of the men were surprised to hear that it had been Kakashi who had been the Commander of the Shinobi Recruits. Her father was not one of them. Instead, he just looked rather thoughtful as he listened to some of the men complain about how shameful it must have been to work with Kakashi. So obviously, they didn't think highly of the Hatake Clan.  
Sakura, however, shut them up really quick by slamming her fist into the ground, causing a minor crater. She apologized to her mother, who didn't seem bothered at all. She was actually laughing with her father and some of the women while the men all looked at Sakura with fear. The one thing that Sakura did not tell everyone about was the problem at the river right after she had become the first Shinobi. She thought that one was too embarrassing. Especially with most of the men. After spending so days and nights with the men in the army, she knew how crude they could be. So she decided to keep that one to herself. That is until her father asked about it. He had had a feeling she was hiding something so he and her mother pulled her into the house and asked if anything bad happened or embarrassing. Sakura didn't want to lie to them so she told them the truth. She told them that she had tried to take a bath in the river and ended up with a bunch of naked men. As expected, her mother nearly fainted while her father chuckled with amusement. He obviously took it a lot better than her mother did.

However, as the celebration drew on, something that Sakura had been expecting happened. She received visitors. One of the hands had heard someone knocking at the gates so he had went to investigate. He came back flustered and shocked with a pair of smiling blonde Shinobi right behind him. Namikaze-Uzumaki Minato and Naruto.

"Minato-senpai!" Sakura gasped as soon as she saw them. "Naruto!"

Naruto grinned as he rushed forward and threw an arm around her, hugging her tight. He didn't even pay any attention to any of the workers as they looked rather surprised or confused. Even Sakura's mother looked stunned. But Suke just smiled as he greeted his old friend. "Hiya, Sakura! How's it going?!" Naruto asked in his loud and obnoxious voice. But Sakura smiled as she pulled away from him. She was happy to see him again, of course. "I'm okay. But what are you doing here?"

"We were passing by, on our way home, Sakura-kun." Minato said as he stepped closer to her. "We just thought it would be nice to stop by and see if you got home all right. Plus I wanted to make sure things were going well after your return."

Suke just smiled as he put an arm around Sakura's shoulders. "Things are back to normal, Minato-san. I am so grateful to you for watching over my little cherry blossom. I was so afraid that something bad would have happened to her." He told the blonde Shinobi. Minato just smiled back at him as he placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, shaking his head. "Do not thank me, Daisuke-senpai. Thank my son, Naruto. He had been watching over her, watching her back as she progressed. Of course, he did not know that she was a girl until recently. But, as you can see, they are fast friends, no matter." He said gently. His eyes then lit up before he turned around just as another pair of visitors arrived. "Ah. It seems to me that you have more guests."

"Zaku-kun! We came to visit you!!" Rock Lee said as he ran through the even more surprised hands. Behind him, a grinning Gai was following just as quickly.

Sakura looked at them with surprise, her eyes wide as saucers when she saw the boutique of flowers in the very unusual but energetic young man's arms. She didn't take them right away as he held them out to her. "Lee?! Gai-sensai?! Wh-what are you doing here?!" She gasped. But her eyes grew wider when she saw that there were a few more arrivals. Neji with Hinata and a man, whom she knew was her father, Lord Hyuuga, and Neji's uncle. Next to them, was Shikamaru and his father. And then Shino, Choji, Sai and every one of her friends. They were all carrying parcels and gifts. "Wh-What..."

"Don't be surprised, Sakura." Shikamaru said lazily. His hands were shoved into his pockets, matching the very stance as his father, who looked exactly like him. In fact, they looked so alike that it was alarming. "We're comrades, remember? Besides, we thought it'd be cool to show your folks that we don't hate you for lying and deceiving us, making us look like idiots because we thought you were a boy..."

Sakura was giving the lazy Shinobi a very dry look as he prattled on. She was annoyed that he was going on like that, even though she knew he was joking. But still, did he really have to tell everyone at her home that? But she smirked when Sasuke pushed right through the ground, smacking the procrastinated Shinobi over the head.

"Knock off, lame ass." He said dryly before looking at Sakura. "Hey."

"Sasuke?!" Sakura yelped with surprise then looked to see that Itachi was right behind him. He gave her a nod, while ignoring some of the alarmed looks he was getting from the workers. They obviously know who he was and what he had done but he didn't pay them any mind. Suke was a little surprised to see him too when the longhaired rogue ninja showed up. "Oh." He found himself say. Sakura just glanced at him before moving forward to Sasuke and Itachi, giving them both a nod. "Hey, Sasuke, Itachi. It's good to see you both again." She turned her eyes onto Itachi, who looked back. "Thanks for standing up for me, though, Itachi-san. You know, for protecting me from Orochimaru." She said, smiling.

Itachi just lazily shook his head as he kept his eyes on hers. "It was no problem, Haruno-san. I only did it because you are my younger brother's friend and comrade. I have caused him enough pain so I could not do it again." He told her.

Sakura only nodded before looking around at all of the Shinobi she had befriended. "But what are you doing here? I thought you were going home. And..."

Neji shook his head calm as ever as he folded his arms. "We wanted to visit you, Sakura, and my uncle has heard of what you have done." He looked up at the tall Lord of the Hyuuga Clan, who stepped closer. "I believe that is the same reason of the rest of the Clans. My family has learned of what you have done for the Fire Country and what you have done for me. They wish to thank you for your help." He told her. Lord Hyuuga nodded as he tilted his head towards a blushing Hinata, who held up box. Then he turned his pure white eyes onto Sakura. "As Lord of the Hyuuga Clan, I, along with our entire Clan wish to thank you for helping Neji while at war. You have the deepest gratitude of the Hyuuga Clan." He told her. Sakura could not stop herself from slowly touching her mouth in surprise. She felt incredibly touched at his words. But she was even more surprised when all of her friends held up their own boxes and gifts.

"It's the same with my clan, I guess." Shikamaru said lazily. "My father wanted to meet the one girl who managed to outwit me." He looked rather annoyed by this. "I'm a guy with an IQ of 200 and I never saw it coming that you were a girl. He thought that was too damn hilarious."

Sakura blinked in surprise but then burst into laughter, along with everyone else in the yard. They couldn't help it. Shikamaru was actually embarrassed that a girl tricked him. Even his father was laughing as his son was starting to turn red from embarrassment and anger. But after a minute, Shikamaru's face softened while he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. At least I'm not the one who saw a dozen naked guys in a river." He said smirking. Sakura stopped laughing as she looked at him with wide eyes. The other men also stopped, but they were blushing bright red while both the Heads of each of the Clans just laughed harder. All of the young Shinobi just kept on blushing or rubbing the back of their necks.

The days passed slowly and Sakura received frequent visits from all of her friends, minus one silver-white haired Shinobi. She was disappointed that night when Kakashi didn't show up to help her and all of the Shinobi celebrate the freedom with the Haruno Clan. In fact, no one really seemed to know where he went off to. Even Minato told Sakura that right after she left Konohagakure, Kakashi had vanished. He and Naruto had made a quick stop at the Hatake Residence but Kakashi had not been there. The lights were off and it didn't look like anyone was home. That made Sakura worry just a little. She wondered where he was and if he was all right. She really hoped that he was okay. She wanted to go see him, just to check up on him but she was a little nervous about doing it. She was pretty sure that he didn't want to see her right now. If he did, he would have came to visit. So she kept her peace.

Though the days went by, Sakura went about her daily routine on the house chores with her mother and the workers. She helped them keep the house all nice and helped out in the gardens. Occasionally, she spared with her father to keep up with her Shinobi skills. She loved doing that. And even though her father had a limp in his leg, he still had his Shinobi techniques. He even gave Sakura a good run for her money. They really liked sparing with one another. It kept Sakura in shape.

Slowly, the summer passed and turned into Fall, which became a very cold Winter. Still, Sakura received visits from her friends. She had been invited to a few wedding ceremonies during those days. Naruto and Hinata finally got married, as did Neji and Tenten, who had been paired up with one another. Sakura was happy for each of her friends as they were paired up with a woman. Rock Lee found his own love with a girl that Sakura didn't really know. She found it really amusing when Ino ended up being paired with Choji. She hadn't been expecting it but at least Ino didn't seem to mind. In fact, she seemed really pleased.

"He's really not fat. You just got to get him to let go some of his Chakra and he'll be a normal size." Ino said pleasantly after she had been unified with Choji. She then smirked at Sakura who was watching Choji eat a large rice cake. "I'll tell you what that I don't mind being big though." She added with a smug smile.

Immediately Sakura covered her ears. She did not want to hear anything weird from Ino. Especially about Choji. She was still getting used to the fact that he was one of her friends and to hear about…..that did not settle too well on her part. What she found even more amusing was how the foreigner, Temari had some how dragged Shikamaru to the alter. Sakura had no idea how she managed to get the lazy idiot but she had. She had spent three days laughing and giggling about it. And even laughed harder when some how the wild card Anko somehow got Gai's attention. The poor fool seemed rather confused about it too. There were a few rumors about it. Some said that she was only interested in his reputation or something. But no one could tell for sure.

But every night, Sakura spent at least an hour looking out the window, staring up at the night sky as she thought about Kakashi. She felt rather lonely without him. She wondered how he was doing. She hoped he was okay. Of course the one thing she wanted to know the most was why she was feeling like the entire world had crashed right on top of her head. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She thought about him night and day, during meal time and even during her chores. She couldn't help but feel like there was a weight on her chest. And a few times, she found herself cry.

However, one night, her mother had caught her tearing up a little as she sat out on the porch looking up on the winter moon. She only frowned before asking her what was wrong. Of course, Sakura only tried to pretend that the chilly wind had hurt her eyes a little but the look on her mother's face told her to tell the truth.

"I'm……I'm just thinking…..about one of the men, mother. My Shinobi Commander, Hatake Kakashi. I don't know why. I guess I'm just a little worried about him. He's the only one who hasn't come visit me since the war ended. Even Morino Ibiki has come to visit and he didn't even like me that much." Sakura told her in a low voice. "I…..just can't stop thinking about him."

There was a pause before Haruno Rukia smiled. She seemed to see right through Sakura's heart. She knew what her daughter was feeling now. And she wasn't entirely surprised. After hearing all that Sakura had been through, she wasn't surprised that Sakura might have feelings for the Heir of the Hatake Clan. "Sakura, when he is ready, he will come visit you. He'd have to be crazy not to." She told her as she reached up and pushed a long strand behind Sakura's ear. "And do not stop thinking about him. If the fates are kind, you will be happy in the end." And she said no more. It left Sakura in a state of confusion but she didn't bother asking her mother about it.

Finally, the New Year had come and Spring soon followed. The snow had melted, showing the cherry blossom buds growing on the branches, which were slowly opening up. Sakura spent most of the time in the chilly day taking care of them. Her father would occasionally help her out. They were expecting very beautiful cherry blossoms this year. It was more than likely they were going to have a very good year, if the omens were right. Even better, Sakura's lovely pink hair had regrown and was almost the same length as it had before she cut it to become Zaku.

However, something that Sakura had not been expecting happened. She received a summoning scroll from the Matchmaker, Tsunade.

Sakura was definitely nervous about having to see that woman again. She wondered what it would be about. She had passed the age of being matched up. But by the looks of this scroll, that didn't matter to the beautiful, gray wearing woman. She had summoned Sakura to try again to become a bride. The pink haired Shinobi was almost too tempted of just blowing the woman off. It was more than likely Tsunade was going to criticize her for wanting love again. But her mother made her change her mind.

So with no real choice, Sakura agreed to go see the matchmaker again.

On the day of the visit, Sakura prepared herself to go through the same thing as she had a year ago. She scrubbed herself clean, dressed and put on the make up, just going through the same routine to become a bride again. She was going to wear the same red and pink kimono as the year before. Only this time, she was going to wear her Shinobi headband with it. She didn't really care if Tsunade was going to be amused or not. She wanted to be a Shinobi.

And as expected, Tsunade frowned as soon as she saw the forehead protector on top of Sakura's head, serving as a decorative headband. She didn't say anything as Sakura just sat down across from her, not looking nervous at all, even though she really was.

There was a short pause as Tsunade looked Sakura over, though her eyes kept returning to the forehead protector. She stared at it for a minute then looked right into Sakura's eyes. "So, the rumors are true. You have become Shinobi. Or is that a stolen forehead protector from your father."

"No, ma-am. It's real as can be. I have become Shinobi, as of last year, and the first Kunoichi." Sakura said in a proud way.

Tsunade just stared at her dryly as she folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. She didn't seem amused but it wasn't like the pink haired girl cared. "I also heard that you pretended to be a man. That's really stupid, you know? To cut your hair, wear men's clothes. Why couldn't you just be who you were?" She asked dryly.

Sakura frowned at the beautiful blonde but shook her head as she copied the woman's sitting position. She even folded her arms, as if mocking her a little. "Because back then, I didn't know who I was. To everyone else, I was just some pretty little girl with pink hair and was meant to be a bride. I wasn't satisfied with just being a failure as a bride, so I tried a career change. And as you might have heard, it worked out."

"Hmm." Tsunade hummed, her face emotionless. "I also heard a curious rumor about you bathing with men. That is one of the most disgraceful things I've ever heard."

Sakura glared at Tsunade when the words were out of her mouth. She wasn't sure who told the matchmaker that but it did make her cheeks heat up a little. "Okay, that one is a rumor. I did not bathe with men. I just sat on the sidelines while they made me talk to them while they were bathing. Besides, I was pretending to be a guy, remember? I was careful. And even so, it's my own business."

Tsunade was definitely not amused with that answer. She glared right back at the pink haired 19 year old, who met her challenge of a glaring contest. They just glared at one another for a long time before the matchmaker shifted her head to the side. "I'm also curious. Has your answer changed since the last time we met?" She asked. Sakura frowned with confusion but then she realized what she was talking about. "If you're talking about what I want most out of a relationship with a man, then no. I still want love. I deserve love. I'm not going to change my mind about."

Again, Tsunade gave her a dry look. She was again not amused by her answer. "Love is for fools, Haruno Sakura."

"No, it is not. There is nothing wrong about love, Tsunade-san." Sakura just said as dryly.

That seemed to surprise Tsunade on the bold answer. She was not used to someone talking to her like this. But she was curious nonetheless. "Oh really?" She asked folding her hands together. "Do tell. Explain to me what is not wrong with love? As far as I'm concerned, love is a joke." She told her.

Sakura just shook her head as she looked the blonde right in the eye. She wasn't sure how she was going to explain it to her. But then Kakashi's words that night at the river came back to her. She paused as she remembered them. "There is nothing wrong with love at all, Tsunade-san. There is no more honorable way in a relationship than love." She found herself smiling as she remembered Kakashi's exact words. "Without love, there is not perfect match. If I want love in a relationship, then I should get it." She told Tsunade. Then after a long silence between them, Sakura frowned as she blinked out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry, Tsunade-san. I'm only wasting your time. There is no match for me that you can find. I have to find my own match." She stood up and bowed to the woman. "I'm sorry for wasting your time." Then the pink haired woman started towards the door.

However, Tsunade found herself grinning as she rest her chin on her hands. "On contrary, Haruno-san." She spoke up, making Sakura stop and turn to look at her. "I think I found you the perfect match. For being so bold as you are, there is only one man I can think of that could use a young bride like you." She grinned even more, though that scared Sakura by the sight of it. It was not an innocent grin at all. "Mind you, he is older than you by far. And he's already got gray hair. But he could use a feisty young bride such as yourself." Tsunade said as she dropped her hands.

Sakura went very pale as she stared at the evil grin on the blonde matchmaker's face. She didn't like that look at all. It looked so……so….evil. This woman did not have anything good planned for her. "Erm….um….wh-who is this…..man you're t-talking about?" She asked nervously, her courage gone.

Tsunade just grinned even more evilly as she picked up a bell on the table and rang it. She just continued to look right at Sakura in her evil way even as the door slid open and in came her assistant, Shizune. "Shizune, send for Jiraiya immediately. Tell him we have found him a match." She told her. Shizune blinked in surprise as she looked at her employer before glancing over at Sakura worriedly. "Jir-Jiraiya, ma-am? But isn't he a little too old for her? He's nearly fifty now, isn't he?"

Sakura went very pale to hear that. Her entire body just went so cold, as if she had just been caught in an ice storm. 'Sh-she can't possibly……!' She thought in horror. "You're pairing me up with a fifty year old man?!" She found herself screeching.

"So what if I am?" Tsunade asked with her evil humor. "You should have watched yourself, Haruno. I'm not one who you should challenge. Now prepare yourself. In two days, you will meet your groom. Either you like him, or not." She told her before she stood up and was out of the room, leaving a very horrified Sakura.

When Sakura got home that night, she immediately ran to her father with tears in her eyes. She didn't know who this Jiraiya was but it was more than likely that she was not going to like him at all. The thought of being married to a fifty year old man scared her. She had to find out from her father. Daisuke was in the garden though, looking over the cherry blossoms. That is until he felt Sakura's presence. He turned with a smile to greet her, only to be surprised when she threw her arms around him, crying into his chest. "My cherry!" he said in alarm. "What is the matter?"

"Father! She's horrible! That matchmaker is the most horrible woman I've ever met!" Sakura gasped against him before pulling away and looking at him with wide eyes. "Father, tell me what the odds are of her matches! Is there anyway I can get out of a match with a man?!"

Suke frowned in surprise as he wrapped his arms around her but then looked worried. He didn't like the looks of this. If his little cherry was crying, then something had really gone wrong. And if it was the match that the matchmaker made, he winced to think about it. "I'm afraid, Sakura, that once Tsunade makes her decision, she never changes her mind. And she always gets her way." He then took her hands, frowning when Sakura burst into tears. "Come sit down with me, Sakura. Tell me what happened."

It took her a long time to even get the words out of her mouth but Sakura finally told her father what had happened during the meeting and what was said. Then she explained to her father that Tsunade said that she was going to be matched up with a man named Jiraiya. She paused in one of her sentences when she saw how confused her father looked. He seemed to be thinking rather hard about this.

"Father, tell me. Who is Jiraiya?" Sakura asked worriedly through her tears.

Daisuke frowned as he rubbed his chin, thinking to himself for a moment. But after a minute, he looked at Sakura. "Hmm? Oh. Jiraiya? Well," He pulled a face. "He's actually a famous Shinobi. One of the Three Famous Shinobi. You see, Sakura. As you have been told, you have been made the first Kunoichi of this generation. But you are not the first Kuniochi in history. In fact, Lady Tsunade is the official first." He said, surprising her. "Jiraiya is also a famous Shinobi. And the third was once Orochimaru. Jiraiya, however, he……he's very famous with the jutsu he performs, of course. But he also happens to be the Fire Country's number one……" He stopped himself with a wince.

"Number one what?" Sakura asked worriedly.

Her father sighed. "Jiraiya-sensai happens to be the number one Pervert ninja in the entire Fire Country. He's well known to doing a lot of peeping at Women's bathing houses." He told her.

Sakura's face went even paler than ever. She was almost sheet white to hear that. She couldn't believe it. She was paired up with a pervert! How could this happen?! How could Tsunade do this to her?! Oh yeah. She did it to her because Sakura had challenged her matching ideas. Not being able to handle it anymore, Sakura fainted.

The two days passed slowly and each hour that passed during those two days felt more like the hours of her life were slipping away. She felt like her life was about to end. She had done quite a bit of crying during those days. She locked herself in her room, not eating nor sleeping, no matter how much her mother tried to coax her. Eventually, Suke grew too worried so he sent for Minato. The Shinobi General arrived around the afternoon, looking rather worried. He tried to coax Sakura out of her room so that they could talk. She had come out all right but only to throw her arms around him and cry into his chest. She told him that she didn't want to marry an old pervert like Jiraiya. She begged him to put a stop to this. To do anything to stop the match. Minato was surprised to hear that but after a moment, he finally had her calmed down and eating. He promised her that he would find out what in the world was going on. And that day, he went to see Tsunade.

Unfortunately, he returned with a faint smile and told her that Tsunade's decision could not be changed. "Just relax, Sakura. It won't be that bad." He promised her.

"NOT THAT BAD?!" Sakura gasped in a loud voice making everyone wince. "YOU TRY GETTING MARRIED TO A FIFTY YEAR OLD MAN WHO ALSO HAPPENS TO BE THE BIGGEST PERVERT THEN YOU TELL ME IT'S NOT THAT BAD!" Then she was off into her room again.

The day she was to meet her groom was more like doomsday for Sakura. She felt as if the world was going to end, even if it was a very beautiful day. She wanted to curse the gorgeous golden sun for even showing its face. She wanted it to be rainy and gloomy like her feelings were. But the weather was not going to comply. She felt like she wanted to die now.

Sakura's mother helped her that morning, though she didn't very much herself. She let her mother help her get cleaned up and picked out a very beautiful white kimono to wear when she would be married. She just sat on a stool while her mother did her hair and make up, staring off. She wondered more about Kakashi now that she was just sitting there. She severely wished that he could just show up before this whole arrangement could happen and she would beg him to take her away from there so she didn't get matched with an old perverted man. But she knew it was an empty hope. Kakashi hadn't been to see her for nearly five months now. There probably wasn't going to be any sign of him now. But as she sat there on the stool. Something began to dawn on her. She was starting to realize why she had spent so many days thinking about him and crying over his disappearance.

'I'm in love with him, aren't I?' She thought with sudden realization. Her heart pounded even harder to even think that. But then it nearly shattered when she remembered that she was about to be matched up with someone else. 'Too late now.' She thought bitterly.

Soon, Tsunade showed up with her assistant, Shizune. She was probably there to make sure that Sakura wasn't going to run away. And she seemed pleased to see how terrified the pink haired young woman looked. "You should be happy, Haruno, that you're getting matched up. Your groom isn't exactly what I would pick for myself but you two will get along so well." She teased.

"Lady Tsunade," Daisuke said dryly as he walked into the room with, surprisingly, Minato. "Do not tease my daughter. She isn't exactly feeling well this day and you can't really blame her. It is her match up day and anyone would be nervous about this day. So have some respect and stop."

Tsunade rolled her eyes but looked at Sakura as the girl lowered her head. With an annoyed sigh, she folded her arms. "Haruno Sakura, you are Shinobi. You have more courage than this. So show some of it. It won't be bad, all right? As soon as Jiraiya gets here, everything will be all right." She told her. Sakura didn't agree.

"Sakura," Minato said as he gently took her by the arm. "May I speak to you for a moment?" He also looked to her parents and Tsunade as if asking for their permission as well. "I have something to give you. A gift, if you wish to call it."

Tsunade looked like she wanted to object by Suke nodded his permission to his younger friend. He didn't mind at all, even though the match maker did. Sakura sighed as she let Minato lead her out of the room into the next, but didn't say anything until they were alone. "Minato-senpai, do I really have to go through with this? Is there anyway I can just run away till the day is over?" She asked sorrowfully.

"Hmm." Minato hummed with amusement as he slid the door closed then reached into his long coat's pocket. "Sakura, you can't always run away from your problems. Remember what you always say when it gets tough. A true Shinobi never….." He paused to let her finish. Sakura sighed as she lowered her head. "A true Shinobi never gives up." She faintly smiled at him. "Okay. I'll try it. This guy that I'm matched up better not be mean or I'll pound." She said punching her hand into her other hand. Minato only laughed softly before pulling out a small package. "Don't worry. He's rather kind. Here. This is from someone you know."

Sakura frowned as she slowly took the small package. "What is it?" She looked up at Minato but he shook his head to let her know that he either didn't know or he wasn't going to say. So she pulled the paper off the object, only to freeze. It was a small orange book with a couple on the cover, holding each other while a mob stood around them.

It was the Icha Icha Elite book.

"This is……" Sakura whispered breathlessly.

Minato tilted his head as he looked at it. He didn't seem so surprised to see it but then again, he wasn't expecting it either. "An Icha Icha book, huh? So that's what Kakashi told me to give you." He said quietly for only her to hear.

Sakura's head jerked upward and she looked wide eyed up at him. She wasn't sure if she heard right but did he just say Kakashi gave this to him to give to her? "Kak-Kakashi?! You've seen Kakashi?! When?! Where?!" She asked. Minato just gently smiled at her as he folded his arms. He paused for a minute to think before shrugging. "Just the other day. He came back from a trip he was on. He seemed to have been doing some thinking to himself during his time away from here. He didn't say where he had gone. All he said was give you this." He turned his deep blue eyes back onto the book. "You seem to know about this book."

Slowly, Sakura nodded as she looked back at the book in her hands. "Yes. Kakashi told me about it when I asked. I was never to read these books because my mother never approved. But I was curious so I asked Kakashi about his books. This one, this book is the one he told me about. I was so fascinated by the story line that he told me he would let me borrow it." She said as tears came to her eyes. She pressed her forehead against the book's cover, trying hard not to cry.

Minato just smiled faintly before putting an arm around her shoulders. He knew it must have been a little hard for her to get on with this day. "Don't cry, Sakura. I can promise you that you're going to see Kakashi again, and probably pretty soon." He told her gently. Sakura didn't reply to that statement, as if she didn't hear. Instead she tried to pull back her tears so she wouldn't ruin her makeup.

Not more than an hour in half later, it seemed that the groom had arrived. Sakura was ushered out in the yard with her family while Tsunade, as she told the girl, was going to greet the groom. So apparently she was suppose to be there. There was the sound of someone outside the gates, and that made Sakura feel even more nervous. So her husband to be was there. This made her start trembling. She felt as if she was going to start falling apart any minute. Tsunade moved forward to open the gates to allow the groom in. She looked rather annoyed as she peered outside then allowed in whoever it was.

To Sakura's horror, it was an older man.

He was quite tall and strong looking, of course. But he was definitely older than Sakura. He had nearly pure white, long hair that fell to his lower back. He also had two red marks running down his cheeks. He might have had a handsome look about him, but he was still older than Sakura.

The man's eyes immediately looked right at the pink haired girl as he walked into the yard with Tsunade and he grinned while looking her over. That didn't really help no more than him practically skipping towards her. "Oooh! So this is our little bride! She's really hot! No doubt she'll make a very nice wife!" He said, his eyes looking her over.

"Jiraiya! Don't be such a perve, you idiot!" Tsunade snapped.

That was more than Sakura could handle. She couldn't help herself anymore. She couldn't just stand there anymore. With a choking sob, she whirled around and took off running for the gardens. She ignored her parents calling after her, and the alarmed yelp from Jiraiya when he got punched in the side by Tsunade. She just ran, not wanting to be around anyone right now.

"Sakura!" Her mother called and started to go after her but Minato placed a hand onto both, Suke and Rukia's shoulders to keep them from going after. He only shook his head with a faint smile. "Let her go. She needs to be alone."

Sakura went to the one place she had felt more comfortable about and that was her favorite cherry tree. She didn't even glance at the gardeners as they saw her race right past them. She didn't even stop the tears from flowing from her cheeks. She only ran to the tree and was up it before she even knew it, trying to hide within the pink and white blossoms. She couldn't believe this was happening. She was about to be matched up with an old man. Sure he had been handsome but he was a pervert and he was too old for her! This had not been what she wanted! She hadn't wanted to have her husband picked for her! She had wanted to pick him herself!

For nearly ten minutes of sitting on a branch, with her arms wrapped around her knees and her face buried with in them, she had been crying. She felt terrified of what was going to happen when she did return to her parents and the matchmaker. She was sure that Tsunade was going to scold her for trying to run. But as she sat there, she felt the tree shake a little, making her stiffen. It felt more like someone had just climbed the tree after her. Not wanting to look, she tightened her arms around her.

That is until someone placed their hand onto her shoulder.

Sakura stiffened for a moment before whimpering. She didn't recognize that hand so she was sure that it was her husband to be. She really did not want to talk to that Jiraiya right now! She was too scared of him!

"Hmm. Am I that terrifying to you, Sakura?" came the calm and amused voice she had been longing to hear for so long.

Sakura's head jerked up when she heard it and she looked wide eyed up at the familiar face of Hatake Kakashi. He was no doubt smiling at her by the look in his eye and he hadn't changed very much since she last saw him. His silver-white hair was the same, he still wore his mask and his forehead protector over his Sharingan eye. The only thing different, though not by much, his clothes were a little neater.

"Ka….Ka-Kakashi….." Sakura muttered as she looked up at him with shock. Kakashi just nodded as he crouched down next to her on the next branch. He seemed to be smiling still, though Sakura couldn't really tell. But he didn't really have time to actually say anything, because the pink haired woman gave a choking sob before throwing herself at him and wrapping her arms around his chest. He was taken back a little and they both would have fell out of the tree if he hadn't used his chakra to keep clinging onto the branch. "Kakashi!"

"Whoa! Careful, Sakura!" Kakashi said as he wrapped his arms around her to keep her from falling. But he stopped when he heard her sobbing into his chest. "Sakura, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Sakura shook her head against him as she tried very hard to stop crying. She was quiet for a long moment as Kakashi settled them both back onto the branch and he sat down next to her. After a minute, she pulled away from him and glared as she remembered of what had happened during the last few months. She remembered what Minato and everyone said about Kakashi disappearing and making them all worry. Angrily, she punched him in the shoulder. "You jerk! Do you know how worried you've had everyone by disappearing like that?! No one knew where you were! We were all so worried that something happened to you, Kakashi!" She told him sternly. "And stop laughing!"

In deed, Kakashi was chuckling while rubbing his arm where she punched him. It had hurt a little, but he was only glad that she didn't punch him her hardest. He knew he would have flown out of the tree if she had, and probably be knocked out. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I didn't mean to worry you." He told her with amusement.

Sakura felt her face flush as she folded her arms and she turned her nose away with a mild pout. She knew she was blushing a little but she hoped she wasn't bright red. "I'm wasn't too worried. I was just mad because you didn't come see me when everyone else did. Minato-senpai and Naruto would come see me almost every week! I've seen all of the other guys, even Ibiki! But you never came to visit once, you baka!" She paused when Kakashi rose an amused eyebrow at her. "Well it's true. You didn't come to visit. I guess I was a little worried. But that's because no one knew where you were."

"Well, I'm here now." Kakashi said with amusement.

Sakura gave him an annoyed look but then her face fell when she remembered what was going on that day. She sighed and leaned against the tree, wrapping her arms around her knees. She couldn't look at him in this state. Not to mention to even tell him why she was in a tree anyway. "Kakashi, this a bad time to come visiting me." She murmured.

The Shinobi frowned as he looked down at her. He could see that she was a little upset about something. She still had tearstains on her pretty cheeks. "Sakura," He asked quietly. "What's wrong? Are you hurt"

Slowly, Sakura shook her head before she buried her face into her knees. She really didn't want to tell Kakashi the reason why she was so upset but she trusted him with her life. And maybe if she told him her problem, he'd have something to say about it. Maybe he could use his influence to get her out of this mess.

"I've been matched up, Kakashi. I annoyed the matchmaker, Tsunade and she decided to be mean and match me up with an old man. I'm terrified. I don't want to marry an old man!" She said with a choking sob.

There was a long pause before Kakashi made a sound as if he was smiling too loud. He reached over and touched her arm to make her look up at him. "Oh come on, Sakura. I know I'm almost ten years older than you but I'm not that old." Sakura's body froze when she heard those words come out of his mouth. She literately froze and just listened to the silence. But after a minute, she lift her head and looked right at Kakashi with wide eyes. He was smiling at her, no doubt. But it was clear that she was surprised. He nodded as he guessed her thoughts. "Sakura, you're paired up with me. I'm the groom you're suppose to meet."

Sakura's mouth fell wide open as she stared at him with shock. She had not been expecting that one. "Wha--?!" She gasped before she lost her balance on the branch and toppled right out of the tree. She gave a choking squeak as she barely missed the branches as she went down. Her inner self was screaming at her for being an idiot and losing her balance in the tree.

But before she could hit the ground, she fell right into a pair of strong arms, with smoke and leaves curling around her. Sakura squeaked as she threw her arms around her rescuer's neck and looked up to see that it had been Kakashi who saved her. He was no doubt laughing at her and in a way, she couldn't blame him for laughing. She felt her face flush hot red from embarrassment but she couldn't even erase the shock from her mind. "Ka-Kakashi…..wh-what are you t-talking about?! I'm not paired up with you! I'm paired up with that old guy, Jiraiya! Tsunade even said……."

"Tsunade was teasing you, Sakura." Kakashi interrupted softly as he continued to hold her. He sounded very amused by her reaction. "As for that old man, Jiraiya. He's not your match. He's the men's matchmaker. He works with Tsunade, helping her find a match for the girls that she meets. They work together to figure out who would be paired up with who." He shook his head as he tilted his head. "Did you really think that you were going to be paired up with him?" The groan from Sakura told him yes and he laughed. "Okay, okay. I guess I'll have to give you some credit. Tsunade can be a real pain, if you ask me. She's been trying to match me up for years."

Sakura only stared up at him before realizing that she was still in his arms. She did feel rather cozy while in them but it was still embarrassing. "But….Kakashi…..I thought….um, I thought you weren't going to ever….." she was saying as she tried to wriggle out of his arms. Kakashi paused before putting her down and looking away. He knew what she was trying to say. He knew why she was a little concerned. "For the last few months, Sakura, I've been up at Rin's grave." He told her.

"…..Rin?" Sakura asked, blinking in surprise.

Kakashi slowly nodded as he folded his arms, his one eye tilted away from her. He was obviously doing some deep thinking about this. He must have been. "My former love. The one I was matched up with years ago. She's buried right next to my best friend, Uchiha Obito, the one who loved her the most." He looked at back the pretty pink haired girl. "It was my idea to bury them together. I've been…..been trying to decide what to do with myself, Sakura. Ever since the end of the war. I had to go see them, ask them what they thought I should do."

"But….what was you trying to decide?" Sakura asked curiously, her hands folding behind her back.

Kakashi paused for a long moment before looking right into her emerald green eyes with such a soft look. "I was trying to decide if it was all right if I fell in love with you, Sakura." He smiled softly when Sakura's eyes widened with surprise and he nodded. "Ever since at the river, Sakura, you've been in my thoughts. I couldn't stop thinking about you. I tried to forget about you but it wasn't easy. Every time I saw a flash of pink I would look for you. That's why I handed you over to Gai to train. Because I knew I was falling for you. Thing was, I thought you were a guy. But when I found out that you were a woman," He paused shaking his head. "I'm in love with you, Sakura. I'll admit that now. I was only asking Rin if it was okay to move on."

Another long pause before Sakura's face softened and she tilted her head, looking so cutely innocent. "And….what did…..Rin say to you?" She asked, softly.

Kakashi looked right at her, but his eye grew very soft as he saw how soft she was looking back at him. He slowly placed his hands onto her shoulders, rubbing them a little. "She didn't really say anything. But I knew she wants me to move on. She was never the kind that would want me to remain clinging to a painful memory." He then moved a step closer. "Sakura, I can't offer you too much. My clan is not very big. I'm actually the last of them. My parents are gone and I have no other family. I'm only wealthy with what I've earned from being a Shinobi. But I will ask you this, if you will give me a chance, I will do everything in my power to please you. The only thing I can offer you is my love." He told her softly.

There was a short pause as Sakura just stared up at him with such a soft look in her eyes. She had been waiting for someone, him to say those words for almost all her life. She felt her heart fluttering at each of his words and just thump harder at the word love. The one thing she wanted the most.

Slowly, she reached up and grabbed the end of his mask, lightly pulling it down. She paused to see if he minded. But all he did was nod once and reach up with one of his hands, covering her hand and pulling it down so that he was maskless. And as Sakura thought, Kakashi was scar-less, clean shaven and very handsome. She smiled as she touched his lips, which parted a little. "Kakashi, the only thing I've ever wanted is love. And I think that I fell in love with you a long time ago. Ever since that night at the river too." She whispered before rolling her eyes when she saw his eye flicker down to her lips. "And if you want to kiss me, then just do it already. Stop leaving me hanging."

Kakashi laughed as he reached up and took her hand away from his mouth but pressed it against his cheek. "So impatient and stubborn, you are, Sakura. I think you're going to be a very feisty housewife." He grinned down at her as his head dipped closer. "I like it though." He said before reaching down and kissing her. Inside Sakura's head, it felt like the whole world exploded in a heavenly bliss. She couldn't stop herself from wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

This was only the start of a whole new relationship, and a whole new adventure. But at least, Sakura and Kakashi was going to face it together.

_**The End**_

**A/N: Well, that's it for Heart of Honor. There is a possible sequel coming up, depending if anyone wants it. But in the mean time, please let me know what you thought about it. And I really hoped you enjoyed this Naruto Fanfiction. Because I sure enjoyed writing it.**


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